Reason
by IdaKnight
Summary: A strange body in central park, a bet and a declaration of always. Are these the reasons Castle sticks around? AUish, takes place in 3rd season, Castle P.O.V.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright, this one starts out slow but I'm going to make it a full-fledged, multi chapter story. With a plot and everything! :O I know, it scares me too. Honestly. It does.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Castle. I wish I did but, sadly, I don't. **

Oo..oO

Sometimes I pretend. I like to pretend he doesn't exist. See, I don't like him. I don't really have a good reason. Unless you count stealing the woman I love. Okay, so he didn't steal her. No one can steal Katherine Beckett without her express permission. All the man's doing is dating her. And I hate him for it. Maybe you need an introduction.

I'm Richard Castle. I write crime novels. Kate Beckett is my inspiration, my muse. She is an NYPD homicide detective. I follow her around. We're partners now, I guess. Josh Davidson is her boyfriend, a cardiac surgeon. He's a good man in anyone's book. And yet...

One thing you really should know is that I love Kate Beckett. Really, I do. That's why I've got to let her go.

'No!' you yell, 'Fight for her!'

No, I say. I can't. I have to let her be happy. From what I can tell, he makes her happy. Maybe, if I told her how I felt things would change. But no, I know I've missed my chance. I kept telling myself I'd get another shot, that we had lots of time. I was wrong.

If I told her now, it would destroy the delicate shell of friendship that we've build. It would ruin in the holes I've dug, the ladders I've built and the doors I've constructed to get behind her walls. She might never speak with me again. I couldn't handle that.

So I shall bow out. Say a final adieu, as it were. Let her be happy. Until, of course she leaves Dr. Motorcycle Boy. Then I shall come back with a vengeance.

I have to face facts though. The man stayed back from Haiti to be with her. Things are looking serious.

I should get something else straight. It's not about the books anymore. I have enough research for ten more Nikki Heat novels. I'm still there for her. I thought I'd have a chance I thought I'd have time, I... No. No, that's enough with that. One thing is for certain. I'm not following her around to watch her be with another man.

If things get more serious between Kate and...Josh (cursed be his name), I am going to leave. There is no point in staying around. Unless I have the sudden urge to hurt myself. Knowing she loves another would certainly cause unbearable pain.

'But,' you protest 'You love her, right? Then tell her!'

Make her choose? That is the cruellest thing I could do to her. Choose between her partner and her boyfriend? I couldn't do that. No, I have to withdraw from her life. Slowly, so she won't even notice. No need to cause her worry.

Wait, I don't want you all to think I'm abandoning her! I most certainly am not! She'll-she'll have someone else! It's not like we're best friends or anything...

Ugh, you're right. I could never leave her. I don't even want to try. Days like today keep me here. What? You want to know what happened today? Well... I guess...

Oo..oO

I woke up this morning to 'Who's That Lady'. I jumped out of bed at once. Beckett was calling me. I knew what that meant. Murder! My phone was lying across the room and I ran to it, as fast as I could at six in the morning. I nearly fell a couple times but I managed to make it. I hit the green answer button, cutting the Isley Brothers off mid-verse.

"Morning, Detective." I chimed.

"Hey Castle, we gotta body. Central Park."

"That's pretty vague. Can I have more detailed instruction? There may be psychics in my family but I..."

"Yeah." She cut me off and granted my request for a location.

"Great, be there soon."

"And Castle? You may wanna skip breakfast."

"Thanks for the heads up."

"Anytime." She disconnected with a click. The second she hung up, I did a mad dash around my room. Shirt, socks, underwear, shoes, belt...What was I forgetting... Right. Pants.

When I was fully dressed I hurried downstairs. Alexis was sitting at the counter with her textbooks and a bowl of cereal in front of her.

"Hey dad, would you like some..."

I cut her off quickly. "No pumpkin , we got a body." I dropped a quick kiss on her head, wished her a good day at school and practically ran out the door.

Twenty-five minutes and a quick stop at a coffee shop later, I was at the crime scene.

And what I saw shocked me more than anything ever had before.

Oo..oO

**A/N: Please review. Let me know. Feed me ideas. :)**

**I would also like to say that I know absolutely nothing about New York. So, sorry for that. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. As usual. **

**Reason: Chapter 2**

_And what I saw shocked me more than anything ever had before. _

Beckett seemed to sense my arrival. She strode over to me and, before I could say anything, glared at me.

"Not a word Castle." I opened my mouth to reply and she held up a finger. "Ah! Not. One. Word."

She turned to walk away and I smirked. "So," I said. She froze and turned around slowly, eyes wide and threatening. "What's with the shoes?"

Kate Beckett, NYPD homicide detective usually wears killer heels. Not joking. She could actually kill people with her shoes. Sometimes I think they're more dangerous than her gun. She always wears her heels. She runs in them. Chases suspects!They make her pretty much as tall as I am! But today...

"I felt like wearing flats, you gotta problem with that, Castle?" She advanced on me slowly until she stood so close, she had to tilt her head up to look at me. (Teehee).

"Oh, no." I replied casually. "It's just..." I held my hand up at the level she was and tried (unsuccessfully) to hide my giggle. If possible, she moved closer and looked more threatening.

"Did I not tell you to say absolutely nothing?"

"I thought you meant about the body..." I dragged out the word body and looked pointedly at where everyone was standing (over her head). She narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice to barely above a whisper. I had to lean in to catch what she was saying.

"I will pull out my gun and shoot you right now if you make one more-" She was cut off by Esposito.

"You two gunna kiss and make up so we can move on with our lives?" I looked up at him in surprise. Ryan was tring hard not to laugh. Beckett glared one last time (she was doing that a lot today) and turned away from me quickly, hair swinging behind her. It was awesome. When she walked it swung from side to side in a hypnotizing dance...

"Castle!" Beckett call interrupted my reverie. "You gunna come look at the body or what?"

I scurried over there as fast as I could. And got another shock. There was no body. They were standing behind a small hill. Not big enough for a body of any kind to be behind or under.

"Uh, Beckett, I don't know if you noticed but..." She rolled her eyes and pointed down. I walked around to where she was and looked down. Then I understood.

There was a chasm in the ground. That's really the only word for it. A huge gaping chasm. It was so deep that the light from the M.E's light was a small dot. Or maybe it was just a small light. I wasn't sure.

"Who's down there?" I asked, meaning the M.E.

"Don't know. That's why Lanie's looking for something to I.D him with." She smiled slightly. Tease. I chose to ignore it. I was suddenly struck with an idea. It was brilliant!

"Mole people." I said, smiling. I also held out Beckett's coffee. She had forgotten to take it.

"What?" She replied, incredulously, taking the caffinated beverage.

"A secret race of underground humans, consisting of the descendents of Nazis. They know they can never return to the surface so they hide out, right under our noses."

"Mole people. Nazi mole people. That's the best you got."

"Admit it, you like it." I smiled, while she rolled her eyes and peered down the hole again. I was once again struck by inspiration.

"Oh! Maybe he's a C.I.A agent sent in on a special Nazi-hunting mission! He was meant to infiltrate slowly, act like he was simply a homeless man searching for refuge. But his cover was blown and the mole people, angered and scared-"

"No."

"But-"

"No." She knelt by the chasm and yelled down. "Hey Lanie! Whadaya got?"

I knelt down as well. "Tell me he's C.I.A and this tunnel is connected to miles of others!" I yelled at the rapidly approaching M.E.

"From what I can tell," Lanie said as she reached the top of her ladder, "You're boy here was killed by a single G.S.W in the back, right over his heart. You gunna help me out, or just stand there looking pretty?" This last was directed at Esposito, who had been watching her attempt to climb out of the hole. He rushed over immediately and pulled her out. I smiled. He was so whipped.

"Thank you. Now, I found no I.D on the body. Facial identification is gunna be tough. The fall into the pit roughed him up. If the gun hadn't killed him, the fall would have." I took a large step back from the hole. Beckett preformed her signature eye roll. Let her roll her eyes. I didn't want to fall down any hole.

"How deep is the hole, Lanie?" Beckett asked, looking down aforementioned pit of death.

"Mmm, hard to say. About twenty feet, I guess." Beckett looked contemplative.

"That depth wouldn't kill a man."

"There are rocks at the bottom." Beckett made a thoughtful noise. I knew that noise. And that look. She was looking at me with a mischievous smile.

"No." I said. The smile widened and she beckoned with a finger. "Oh no. I refuse."

"Come on, Castle." She walked up to me and invaded my personal space. "Ya _chicken_?" I adopted a shocked look.

"Me? Oh no. I'm worried about you. The mole people need more smart and beautiful members."

"Oh, that means you have nothing to worry about then. I can look after myself and they won't even look twice at you."' She walked away to the hole as I made a face at her. "Coming?" I looked around for help. Esposito was smirking at me, I would get no help from him. Ryan was looking between Beckett and I with a look of amusement on his face. Lanie was talking to Beckett, probably about all the Nazi mole people she found.

Yeah, I was getting no help from any of them. I had to go in the hole. Great. I sighed then walked over to where Beckett was talking with Lanie.

"Come on Beckett, stop dawdling. We have a hole to investigate." She raised an eyebrow.

"So you decided to man up, Ricky?"

"You wound me, Detective."

"Good." And with that, she began the descent into the pit. The dark pit.

Before following her, I called down, "You're only doing this because you know my theory is right! Well, see if I help you when the mole people abduct you."

"Sure, Castle. Hurry up."

And with that, I took a deep breath and descended into the hole. The chasm of death. The lair of the mole people. With a dead body. And Beckett. Yeah, this day was great.

Oo..oO

**A/N: Alrighty, there you go! No, I didn't kill Josh. Or did I... Dun dun DUHHHH. I would love a review if you have time. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hole Chapter. Should be fun. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.**

**Reason: Chapter 3**

_And with that, I took a deep breath and descended into the hole. The chasm of death. The lair of the mole people. With a dead body. And Beckett. Yeah, this day was great._

The pit was deep and dark and dank. Below me, I heard Beckett carefully moving down the ladder. I focused on the walls of the hole. Most holes narrow as they go down. This hole was totally straight, as if a large post-hole digger had been used.

The mole people were certainly advanced.

"This is not twenty feet!" I called down.

"Yeah," Beckett answered, "More like ten."

"Lanie needs to take a course in measurement."

"Lay off. She doesn't like holes."

I heard Beckett touch down on the bottom. Rocks slipped and moved under her feet. The hole was a bit wider than me and about as long as me if I chose to lie down in it. I did not choose to do so. The first thing I noticed when my feet touched the rocks is that they were very unstable. I had to work at keeping upright. One wrong move and you could slip and fall. A fall would be bad here.

The floor seemed to be on a slant. There was a dark shape in the corner furthest from me where the floor looked lowest. Beckett was waiting for me at the other side of the hole. I walked a step over to her. It really was cramped.

"My theory has been defeated. No adjoining tunnels." I said, slightly sad. I was sure that the Nazi mole people had done it.

"I'm crying myself to sleep tonight." She tried to walk past me. "Castle, could you move?"

"Nowhere to go."

"Yeah, well, find somewhere." In the light from the flashlight I could see this was no time to joke with her. Like that was going to stop me.

"Not until you tell me about the shoes."She let out an exasperated sigh.

"Lanie called me with a heads up about the hole. I decided to wear more practical shoes." Beckett? Wear practical shoes? Does she think I'm an idiot?

"Liar." She opened her mouth to say something but I put my finger up to silence her. "It's no use. When I was watching you walk earlier I noticed you were limping slightly. Could it possibly be that your feet hurt from chasing the suspects yesterday though an alley? In heels?"

"You were watching me walk?"

"That's not the point." I smiled wider. "I'm right, aren't I?"

"Yes. Fine, my feet hurt from yesterday, happy?"

"I could offer my massage services if that would-"

"Move."

I turned to the side and pushed myself against the wall so she could squeeze past. To my disappointment, she did so without touching me. Plan one to make-Beckett-uncomfortable-without-suffering-serious-injury: failed.

She walked over to the dark shape on the opposite side of the hole and crouched down. She nearly slipped and fell into it but I, having followed her closely, steadied her. She nodded at me in thanks. Then I realized what the dark shape was.

A body, if you could even call it that. Upside down, face to the wall, crumpled and broken. The bullet hole in the plaid shirt on his back was rimmed with blood.

"Okay, found the body." I said, lightly. "He doesn't look C.I.A, but you can never tell."

"He doesn't look like anything, Castle." She stood up and I moved back to give her room. She flashed the light on the ground and walls.

"What are you looking for?" I asked. There couldn't be much down here. "Mole people?"

"Will you stop it with the mole people already?" She muttered, but she sounded as if her mind were elsewhere. I turned to follow the beam of light. Nothing. Just dirt and rocks and... wait...

"What's that?" I pointed. Something had sparkled back when Beckett moved the light over it. She moved the light back and I walked forward, staying out of the beam. I could hear Beckett following me. I knelt down by the object, for it was an object, not mole people signalling. Yeah. I really need to drop the mole thing.

"Hold the flashlight." Beckett passed it to me and I held it steady. She pulled on a latex glove (where did she get that?) and knelt down, being all C.S.I.

Totally hot.

"Huh." She said, turning it over.

"What?" I asked craning my head forward.

"You'll like this, Castle." I started to open my mouth and talk about C.I.A and mole people when she held up a finger. "Not that."

"What? What is it?" I could see her smile in the light of the flashlight. She lifted her hand and I gasped, understanding.

"It's a girl's best friend." The diamond was big. Bigger than your average diamond but not super-sized.

"Oh, the killer must be Meredith." She looked at me, half surprise, half exasperation.

"Your ex-wife? Really Castle?" I shrugged.

"I recognize that diamond. It's changed forms since I last saw it though." She sighed and closed her eyes.

"I'll bite."She said warily.

"Well, last time I saw it, it was in the form of an alimony check." She closed her eyes and I could tell she was holding back a smile. I've come to recognize all the expressions of Kate Beckett over the years. This one was amusement hiding behind serious.

"Castle..."

"Yes, Beckett?" She rolled her eyes (it's her favourite thing, I swear).

"Let's go." She stood up fluidly. I tried to imitate her but failed. I started to tumble down when she put a hand under my arm. I accepted her help gratefully. I did not want to go tumbling into a dead body. That and she was touching me.

"Thanks." She smiled and gave me a slap on the shoulder. Didn't hurt at all (lies, it hurt. It still hurts).

"No problem. Just returning a favour." And with that, she started up the ladder.

"Oh, and Castle? If you stare at my butt, I will hurt you." I saluted.

"Yes ma'am." I couldn't see it, but I could tell she rolled her eyes. I waited until she was halfway up then started climbing back to the sunshine. Or lack thereof. It had clouded over since Beckett and I had descended. I didn't look at her butt once. I swear. Not once.

Twice.

Beckett was handing the diamond off to C.S.U and telling them to be careful down there. I walked over to Ryan and Esposito. They were talking quietly to each other. When they noticed me, they stopped abruptly. Esposito strolled over to me.

"So," He began. "Cozy down there?" Ryan joined him on my other side.

"You and Beckett get some 'quality time' together?" He added with a smirk.

I scoffed. "As if, gentlemen."

"Deny it all you want, bro. We know the truth." Esposito tried to look all knowing and superior.

"Yup," Ryan added. "You can't hide the truth from us."

Yeah," Said Esposito, "We're detectives."

"We know things."

I smiled. "You know nothing." I laughed at the expressions of mock hurt on their faces and went to find Beckett.

She was waiting by the car, looking at Ryan and Esposito with amusement.

"You boys playing nice?" She asked.

"Yes Miss. Beckett."

"Good. Come on, we got a case to work."

"Can I drive?" I asked hopefully. Maybe this time she'd let me!

"No." I sighed. I'd never get to drive the Beckett-mobile.

With that exchange done, we drove back to the precinct. Little did we know that today would cause change. Good change.

Oo..oO

**A/N: I'm going to make things more interesting soon. Please review. I love all of you reading this!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Yeah, I still don't own Castle.**

**Reason: Chapter 4**

_With that exchange done, we drove back to the precinct. Little did we know that today would cause change. Good change._

Today was a big step in our relationship. It may seem small to you, but for us, it was huge. You'll see what I mean.

Oo..oO

"But what would the jewel be doing down there?" Beckett leaned on her desk, staring at the murder board. She pulled one of her chestnut curls and bit her lip, her eyes narrowed in thought. It was adorable.

Since we'd returned to the precinct, Lanie had I.D'd our vic. Colten Albeni, 26. He was a native New Yorker, one brother, dead father. Mother moved to Jersey a few years back. We were trying to get a hold of the brother, Tristen Albeni, 29.

Ryan had found that Colten Albeni had a rap sheet. What was that rap sheet for, you ask? Guess.

Jewel thievery. The second I heard that, I dropped all theories of C.I.A and mole people and embraced those of descendents of pirates and backstabbing. Or shooting as the case may be.

"Maybe the grandsons of pirates dropped it while they removed the treasure from the cavern." It was a cavern now, no longer a chasm. Everyone knows that pirates bury their treasure in caverns. Well, I'm pretty sure they do.

"I can understand they treasure theory." Beckett said, not looking away from the board. I froze. She agreed with my theory? Whaaaa?

"It's your obsession with the descendents of pirates I don't understand!" She turned to look at me, obviously quite annoyed. Who could blame her? I'd been going on about pirates for hours now.

"It makes a better story. Think about it." I put on my story teller face.

"Oh, here we go." said Beckett, raising her eyebrows at me.

"Colten hears a whisper of a group of young gentlemen who have come in possession of a map. It belongs to their fathers' fathers' fathers who were pirates together. Colten is interested. He contacts these men in the hopes of getting in. They could use the extra hand so...Sure, they say. We'd love help. So the treasure recovery commences. The hole is dug over a period of days and, finally, they hit the chest. It sits on a layer of rocks, pristine. They open it and find the treasure. Colten pockets a diamond. When the chest is free, the group of pirates turns on Colten, shooting him in the back. They let his body fall. They must fill the hole but, someone is coming. They grab the chest and run, leaving Colten in a pit, forever more." Beckett was still staring at me, only her arms were crossed.

"They dug the hole over a period of days?" She looked disbelieving. "Castle, that hole is twelve feet deep and perfectly straight!" I sigh.

"Okay, so maybe it's not perfect but it's something!"

"Um, yeah, if that something is ridiculous!" I looked away from her and at the murder board. That was strange.

"Hey Beckett, do you see that?" I pointed at an overhead picture of the park. She came in closer.

"What? Where," she asked.

I pointed at the spot.

"Sonofa..."

Oo..oO

Ten minutes later, we were heading to city hall. While looking for an explanation for the hole, Beckett had marked all the construction in that area that involved digging on the map. Close to our murder scene, a spot was marked off. Construction of a fountain. 7x2.5 ft and 12 feet deep. It was either marked in the wrong place or someone had dug it in the wrong place. We had to talk to the head of construction. If there was such a person. Beckett told me otherwise.

I have no idea why it took us so long to notice the connection.

Okay, yes I do. The whole time, Beckett had been focusing on the victim and the diamond. I was supposed to be looking at the scene. I chose to look at her instead. I regret nothing.

"This kind of blows your pirate theory outta the water." Beckett didn't look at me. Her and her straight faced teasing...

"Not really." I said, keeping my face as neutral as hers.

"Yeah, it does. What? Are the pirates in charge of the construction company now?"

"That is completely-"

"Ridiculous?"

"I was going to say brilliant." I looked over at her, smiling. That theory was so much better than my nonexistent one!

"How about this, Castle," She was still focused on her driving. "If it really is pirates, I go out to dinner with you." I immediately prayed to everything that it be pirates.

"However," Now she looked at me. "If you lose-"

"You take me to dinner?" She rolled her eyes.

"In your dreams. If you lose, you buy dinner for the whole homicide department."

Alright, I thought. Not so bad.

"Oh. And you have to wear a dress while serving everyone." She looked away.

Damn, she's bad. An idea struck me.

"Only if you promise to wear a dress if you lose." She turned her head quickly to look at me. I waggled my eyebrows. She raised one of hers. I smiled evilly. She rolled her eyes. And I knew she would say yes.

"Deal," she sighed as she turned her attention back to the road.

I did a small celebratory fist pump. I would find a pirate connection, even if it killed me.

Oo..oO

Mr. Carlson was the man in charge of the fountain project. The folks at city hall directed us to his office. Across town. All this driving had put Beckett in a bad mood. Mr. Carlson had better be co-operative, I thought. It would get real ugly, real fast if he wasn't.

Carlson's office was spacious. There were no personal pictures in it, only paintings. I didn't think he'd picked them out himself. He was a slim man, taller than Beckett, shorter than me. I put him at about 5,11. Our research told us he was 45. With his dyed brown hair, he looked more like 42. At best.

"Mr. Carlson-" Beckett began.

"Call me Gary, Detective." he said as he flashed what he considered to be a charming smile as he looked her up and down.

"Yeah," said Beckett, "Are you aware that a body was found in the hole dug for your fountain?"

"Oh, yes...I heard about that," He nodded a sympathetic manner, "A woman jogging saw it, correct?"

"We can't discuss-"I started but Beckett shot me a look and I fell silent.

"Yes," she continued. The poor woman had been out jogging when she's seen the blood on the ground near the hole. She looked in and saw the body. Called it in and promptly went into shock.

"Terrible, terrible," Carlson said, looking away. "Do you know who the victim is?"

"We can't discuss an ongoing investigation," she said coolly. Hypocrite.

"Of course," he looked back at Beckett and smiled slightly. "Now, this may sound cold..." Then I realized he wasn't looking at Beckett's face. He was looking at her chest. What a slimy...

"What may sound cold, Gary?" I asked with a cool smile. He looked at me sharply, as did Beckett. I didn't even blink.

"Well," he began, "When can construction resume? I have a deadline."

"Your deadline will have to be pushed back," Beckett said, unsympathetically.

"But the mayor..."

"I'm sure the mayor will understand," I said with a smile, albeit a cold one. I did not like this man.

Beckett stood and I followed. Gary stood last. Hah. Slow poke.

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Carlson."Beckett said courteously. She nodded her head slightly and turned to leave.

"Detective?" Carlson asked. Beckett turned back.

"Yes, Mr. Carlson?" He held out a card.

"Call me." I glared at him. He noticed and started to sputter. "I mean, if you need anything. For the case."

"We have your number on file, Mr. Carlson," she said, ignoring the card. "But thank you."

"You," he said, putting emphasis on the word, "Can call me Gary." He smiled. My glare deepened. Gary ignored it.

"Good bye, Mr. Carlson." Beckett said before walking away. I glared at him a little more before following her. Before I left completely, I shouted over my shoulder.

"See ya, Gary!"

Oh, I was going to get hell for that, I could tell.

A couple minutes later in the car, my theory came true.

"What the hell was that?"Beckett asked, angrily.

"A taxi. They're often seen here."

"Gary? GARY?"

"Oh, Gary! Nice guy, don't you think?"

"No, I do not think."

"That's not fair, yes you do." The look she gave me was lethal.

"Why did you have to be so...so..."

"Charming?"

"Abrasive! It won't help us if he refuses to talk because you were an ass!"

"He was flirting with you!" Now I was getting a little upset.

"I can take care of myself, Castle."

"It was bothering me! He was treating you like an idiot! Disrespecting you!"

"How so, Castle? Where did you get that from? I sure as hell didn't see it."

"He was treating you like an object. Like women detectives are just for flirting with! He wasn't taking you seriously!"

"No one takes me seriously. Occupational hazard of being a female detective."

"Well, it bothered me. You're so much more than what he acted like you were."

She was silent. Then she let out a breath.

"Thank you, Castle. But next time, could you maybe not say anything?"

"Yeah." I looked down. I knew that what I had done was stupid but there was just something about him.

Beckett stopped the car and I realized we were back at the precinct. She didn't get out. As I was about to open the door, she put a hand on mine. I looked at it for a moment and then at her. She was smiling slightly at me.

"Thank you." She said quietly. I smiled back and put my other hand on top of hers and squeezed.

"Always." I held eye contact with her. I tried to show her how I felt, how I would always be there for her. I thought I saw a spark of something in her eyes but then... she looked away. I opened the door and stepped out.

She sent me home soon after that.

Oo..oO

That is why I can't leave her. I've promised always. I've made bets. She makes me happy. She makes me better. She makes me...me.

Today was great and I expect tomorrow will be even better.

**A/N: So the fight may have been a bit weird. As may have Gary. We'll meet more of the vic's family and friends soon, start developing a theory. And who will win the bet? Thank you for reading! Please review, it's really helpful.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's chapter 5. Hope you like it!**

**Reason: Chapter 5**

I woke up bright and early this morning. I had actually set my alarm clock. So at 7am, I was dressed and ready for the day. Or I would be ready. After some breakfast.

Alexis was already in the kitchen. No textbook this morning, she must have finished her homework last night.

I had gotten home around nine last night. Beckett had told me to go home around seven but I hadn't wanted to head back yet. Instead, I went for a walk and thought more about the case. Nothing had come to me. Alexis had been on a date with Ashley and hadn't been home until eleven. She popped her head into the study to tell me she was home then went to bed.

I walked over to her and gave her a kiss on the head.

"Morning, darling." She smiled at me.

"Hey Dad. You're up early." I snatched a piece of toast from her plate and bit into it, waggling my eyebrows at her when she tried to grab it back.

"Really, Dad? Toast stealing?" She tried to look annoyed but failed miserably. "Can't you make your own?"

"But yours always tastes so much better!" She rolled her eyes (where did she learn that?) and walked over to me. She gave me a hug.

"Have a good day solving murders, Dad."

"Will do." I squeezed her back. "And you learn something, okay?" She withdrew from the embrace and skipped away.

"I always do, Dad. I'm not you." She called over her shoulder.

"You pain me, offspring." I heard her bubbling laugh.

"You'll live. Love you!" And with that, she was gone. I finished her toast and left the loft. I had to hurry. My mother would be awake soon and Martha in the morning is not something anyone should witness.

Oo..oO

Today, she looked beautiful. Her hair was tied up but small tendrils had fallen out and framed her face. She looked tired. I wondered if she had slept at all. Sometimes she forgot to. I walked towards her with her coffee, a peace offering for yesterday. Yes, I know she forgave me and we had a moment but I still felt as if things were off.

She looked up when she heard my footsteps. I smiled at her and held up the coffee. She looked at it lovingly and took it from me, our fingers touching for a brief moment.

Our eyes met. My breath stopped.

"Can I have the coffee, Castle?" she asked, slightly amused. I mentally shook myself and loosened my hand.

"Yeah, sure." Beckett smiled at me.

"Thanks." She eyed the bag in my hand pointedly. She had also forgotten to eat, it seemed.

"Oh, you want one?" I held the bag up. "What're the magic words?" Her face went neutral.

"Castle."

"Nope, not that."

"Castle, give it!" She looked kind of angry. I really shouldn't be doing this to her. I was about to give her the bag when it was snatched out of my hand.

"Hey, thanks, bro!" It was Esposito. I hadn't noticed him sneaking up. Now Becketts focus was on him.

"Give it here," she said slowly, "Or I will put you on traffic duty for the foreseeable future."

Esposito paused in the middle of opening the bag. He looked at her nervously and she narrowed her eyes. She meant business. Esposito sighed and tossed the bag to her.

"Good choice, Esposito," she said, opening the bag happily.

At that moment Ryan, who had been on the phone, stood up.

"The mother says that Albeni didn't have a girlfriend. At least, not that she knew about. But we got a number for his best friend."

"What about the brother?" asked Beckett, pastry frozen halfway to her mouth.

"She doesn't know. Hasn't heard from him in four months," Ryan said, sounding weary. Apparently, it wasn't only Beckett who pulled an all-nighter. That, or he was just frustrated by the absence of the brother. Beckett let out a deep breath.

"Call the friend, get him to come in." Ryan nodded and sat back down.

I sat in my seat as well. "Didn't you go home last night, Beckett?"

"Yeah, didn't sleep well though," She muttered, sounding a little angry. Oh? Trouble with Josh, perhaps? I mentally crossed my fingers.

"Why, what happened?" She looked up and shook her head slightly in a gesture that spoke of many, many things having gone wrong.

"Nothing," she said, looking back down at her paperwork, "Just a bad night."

And that was the most I would get from her. I heard Ryan talking to the victims friend.

"Thank you, we appreciate the co-operation." He ran a hand through his hair. "Alright, good bye."

He hung up the phone. "He's on his way." Beckett nodded.

"Better finish that, then," I told her with a smile, glancing at the barely touched pastry. "After all, you had to fight Esposito for it." With a small smile she popped a piece in her mouth.

Oo..oO

"How did you know Colten Albeni, Mr. Gallagher?" We sat in the break room, we were just questioning him, not interrogating. Aaron Gallagher had short cut blond hair and delicate facial features. His eyes were a deep chocolate brown. They were a little watery at the moment. He lifted his head from his hands.

"Uh, he's-he was my best friend," He looked confused, as if the death of his friend made him question his entire reality. It probably did. "We were supposed to- to go for drinks tonight," He let out a humourless laugh. "Pick up girls,"

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Mr. Gallagher," Her voice was full of compassion. She knew what he was going through.

"Yeah,' he said absentmindedly, running a hand through his hair. A solitary tear fell from his eye. "He was my _best friend_. I can't- It's not-" His voice was halting and choked.

"This may be a difficult question but did you know if Colten had any enemies? Anyone who would want to hurt him?"

"No, everyone who met him loved him. He just had this quality..." His voice trailed off.

"Can you tell us more about the robbery charges?" Aaron looked up suddenly.

"Colten had to do that. His brother pressured him into helping." His sounded defensive and I could tell Beckett picked up on that.

"Of course. Could you tell us what happened?"

"Tristen got into something bad, Colten wouldn't tell me what. He really needed money. He lives across from a flea market and noticed that there's a lot of jewellery there. I don't know how he convinced Colt to do it, but do it he did. They robbed a flea market. A goddamn flea market."

We knew this from the file but it was good to hear confirmation.

"Do you know if Tristen needed more help?" Aaron shook his head, looking down.

"Did Colten have any new friends or people in his life?"

"No. It was just me. He- he was like my brother." Aaron had yet to look up again. Beckett put her hand to her forehead. Knowing Beckett, this meant that the interview was coming to a close. I could see it too. Aaron was becoming unresponsive.

"One last question, Mr. Gallagher," Beckett paused, waiting to see if he would look up. He didn't. "Will you please let us know if you remember anything?" Aaron nodded and stood. Then he looked Beckett in the eyes. I could see sorrow in his eyes but also anger and determination.

"Find who did this to him," He said firmly, "And punish them,"

"We will find the killer, Mr. Gallagher," Her face softened slightly. "Thank you for your time,"

Aaron nodded and walked out. I turned to Beckett.

"What do you think?" She looked out after Aaron, her eyes holding a look if mistrust.

"I think he's hiding something." I nodded, I'd felt the same thing.

"Like what?" I asked, staring at her. She turned to meet my gaze.

"I don't know, let's find out."

**A/N: Well, I'm almost completely out of inspiration. I would really appriciate a review, even if it's telling me how much you hate the story. Critisism is always helpful. I'm slightly alarmed by the lack of reviews. **

**The flea market robbery is a real thing. It happened in my city and the guys even brought guns. Pretty crazy. **


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm so sorry for the long lull in between updates! I was away fpr a bit. Sadly, school starts soon and I'm going away again for a couple of days. I'll write as much as I can but updates will be slower. I apologise in advance. Thank you for your reviews! I love you all so much. Hope you like this chapter! You all inspired me to write. :)**

**Reason: Chapter 6**

"_I don't know, let's find out."_

Oo..oO

Colten Albeni lived in a two story walk-up apartment over a convenience store. It was small and chocked full of stuff. I manoeuvred my way through the mess to Beckett. Or I attempted to. I had become stuck between a freezer and couch surrounded by old newspapers.

"Geez, this guy belongs on an episode of hoarders," I said as I turned to go back and knocked over a stack of papers.

"Try not to blaze too large of a trail of destruction, kay Castle?" Beckett said turning to look at me, amused. I was trying to fight my way over to her now and was doing quite the dance.

"Well, I don't possess your ninja skills of manoeuvrability and reflexes so," I paused as I concentrated on jumping over one last pile to her side, "I have to make do."

She put on a face of mock thoughtfulness. "Or maybe you're just clumsy,"

"Me? Clumsy?" I knocked over a pile of books. Beckett smiled in a self-satisfied manner and continued searching the room. I bent down to pick up the books I'd misplaced. Good selection. Carroll, Dickens, Wilde, Verne, Castle... I held up the copy of _A Deadly Storm. _

"Guy has good taste," I called to Beckett, waving the book in the air. "Looks like it's been read recently too. No dust,"

"You and your ego," Beckett said. I opened the book and a piece of paper fell out of it. Huh. That was interesting.

"Hey Beckett, look what our guy was using as a book mark!"

"Is it a picture of you, Castle?" She said, not turning around.

"No. But it could be important to the case." That got her attention. She scrambled over (Yes, that's the right word) only knocking one stack of papers over. Not to mention she was wearing her heels again. So not fair. But really hot, too. And just like that, mind in the gutter. It took me a couple seconds to realize she was standing over me, quite impatient.

"Castle, did you call me over here to mess with me?"

"Huh?" I said, looking up. "Oh, here." I stood up and extended the paper. She took it and rolled her eyes. I smiled.

"Better start picking out a dress, detective."

"This could be totally irrelevant!"

"Or it couldn't be..." I looked at her, eyes wide and she made her little frustrated dang-it-Castle-may-win face.

"A pirate exhibit opening in the museum the night of our murder, detective? Come on. See the story,"

"I'm fine story-less, thanks,"

"Either way, we should check it out," I smiled slightly at her. She looked at me steadily for a moment.

"Fine!" She burst out. "We'll go look at it." I smiled wider. "But only to see if he was there!"

If possible, my smile widened. The exhibit was in a privately owned museum near central park. Oh yeah, I would be going to dinner with Beckett.

Oo..oO

"Oh, this is so cool!" I muttered studying a cannon from an old pirates vessel.

"Yes, it's authentic, over 150 years old." I turned to look at the woman who had spoken. She was around mid-thirties with shoulder length black hair and pretty facial features. Her name was Debra Sanson. She was not my type. No chestnut locks or vibrant green eyes. No beauty marks or perfect cheekbones. Not Beckett.

Aforementioned Detective stood beside me, looking slightly less than pleased. Sanson, the owner of the museum, had remembered seeing our victim the night of his murder. That was also the night a few tidbits of real pirates treasure had gone missing.

My mind was screaming a victory song. It was a mixture of praise for pirates, thankfulness to Sanson and pure excitement about taking Beckett to dinner. Heck, I was even thanking the victim. I kept looking over at Beckett and smiling widely. She ignored me resolutely. Debra Sanson looked confused and a little amused at our antics.

"Could you tell us what went missing, Ms. Sanson?" Beckett was trying to steer me back into thinking about the case. She also wanted to prove that the museum and missing treasure were a coincidence. Good luck with that, sunshine. Actually, no, no good luck! Bad luck!

Ms. Sanson thought for a moment. "Three gold bracelets, two broaches, 5 diamonds of varying sizes and cuts and well as a decorative dagger and some gold coins." Beckett handed Ms. Sanson a picture on Colten's diamond.

"Is this one of the diamonds?" Ms. Sanson studied it for a moment before smiling and nodding.

"Yes, that's one of them!" She looked between Beckett and myself hopefully. "Have you found the treasure, then?"

"No, this was found with a body in central park," said Beckett. Ms. Sansons hopeful expression turned to one of shock.

"Oh my gosh," she muttered, paling, "That's horrible."

For some reason, her reaction reminded me of fear. Maybe it was the way her fingers were worrying each other, or the way her gaze wouldn't settle on one spot for too long.

"Is there something wrong, Ms. Sanson?" Beckett asked. Of course Beckett had noticed, she was a detective. If she hadn't asked, I would have.

Debra Sanson looked up at us, like she had forgotten we were there. She got her bearings together in a few moments. "Oh, no. I was just," She looked around for the right word. Then she shook her head slightly. "I didn't expect that the robbery would kill someone."

Something about her words was causing a little bell to tinkle in my head. I didn't know what bell exactly, but one was going off.

"Do you remember anything else about Mr. Albeni? Was he with anyone?" Beckett had sensed something as well and was hot on the trail.

"I think he was alone. But," She paused and her eyes widened slightly. "He argued with a man by the replica ships!"

"Could you describe him to us?"

Oo..oO

An hour later, we were back at the twelfth with a sketch of the man Albeni had argued with. Typical looking thug. We didn't know his face so Ryan and Esposito searched though mug shots. No one thought they'd get a hit.

And to everyone's surprise, they did.

Jayne Cobb.

Name sounded familiar. Couldn't place it though. Ah well.

Cobb's file had an address listed on it. Now, we knew chances were slim of him actually being there but we had to try.

Beckett wound expertly through the traffic, muttering under her breath whenever someone cut her off. I however, was yelling and gesturing wildly at other drivers. None were moving.

So I yelled that my wife was having a baby and, like magic... no, nothing happened. Beckett just hit me.

"It was worth a try," I muttered under my breath, crossing my arms and leaning back in the seat.

We arrived at Cobb's address without much fuss. We didn't want to spook the man. He was known for his affinity for guns.

Ryan, Esposito and Beckett were strapping on their vests and priming their weapons. I moved to grab mine but Beckett grabbed my wrist.

"Castle, I don't want you in with us this time." She was looking at me steadily, unyielding.

"But I have a vest and I promise to stay behind." I gazed back at her gently, pleading. I wanted to go in. I was her backup. She seemed to sense what I was thinking.

"Rick," She called me Rick. My brain froze. "I have the guys. It's safer if you stay here."

I moved in close to her.

"Kate," I began softly, "You'll have to hand cuff me to the car again."

She leaned in closer and smiled. My eyes widened. She scoffed lightly and patted my hand.

"Done," She said, beaming at me evilly. Kate Beckett is the only woman I've ever encountered who can beam evilly. It's quite the talent.

My mouth gaped open.

"Wha- when did you do that?"

She beamed again.

"I have many skills," she said coyly.

I squeaked involuntarily. Her smile widened and she turned back to Ryan and Esposito. They were both smirking at me. I started to reach for my wallet and my key but a hand stopped me. Esposito snatched my wallet and put it in a pocket of his vest.

"Sorry, bro," he said with a shrug, "Boss's orders."

"Pretty sure thievery's illegal," I told him, slightly disgruntled.

He grinned at me.

"I'm a cop, bro. I just confiscated it."

"Abuse of power!"

All three of them laughed at me.

"Sorry, man," whispered Ryan as he passed me. "This guy's dangerous."

I let out a breath in a humph. Today was the one day I didn't have my spare key on me! I usually kept two but I forgot this morning. Of all the rotten luck...

Ryan lead the way into the building, completely focused on his task. Beckett looked back at me once, giving me an apologetic half smile before turning away and entering the doorway. Esposito gave me nod and I knew he would look after Beckett.

As if she needed it.

Two minutes passed and I felt my anxiety growing. I wanted to be up there. I needed to know what was going on! I fumed silently. Then I heard something. Yelling! I could hear them! But which window...

I pulled at my hand cuffs and craned my neck. Yes! In the top window, all the way on the right I could see lots of movement. The yelling seemed to be coming from there as well.

The mixture of 'Drop your weapon' and 'N.Y.P.D' was overwhelming and I wasn't even in the thick of it! I heard a male voice yell, "I don't think so, sweetie, I ain't got no clue who you are."

Then more yells of 'NYPD' and a shape flew across the window to tackle another. I braced for gunshots but heard none. It had gone quiet.

Tension mounted as minutes ticked past. I did Beckett's thing and chewed my lip. What had happened up there? Were they all okay?

My writers brain flooded me with worst case scenarios. Beckett, Ryan and Esposito lying lifeless on the floor, blood pooling from them. Beckett, shot and unable to help the others. Kate's funeral...

Just as I was about to chew my arm off and go save Beckett, there was a scuffle by the door.

"Hey, watch where yer puttin' that thing! It's a delicate piece a machinery!" The man who had spoken was tall. He had brown hair and looked kinda tough. He was talking to Esposito who was carrying a huge and complicated looking gun. Ryan was leading the man out of the building while Beckett walked over to me and pulled out a set of keys.

"Thank you," I said as she unlocked them. I had pulled a little too hard and my wrist ached. I rubbed it gingerly.

"You okay?" Beckett asked in concern, taking my wrist and studying it closely. "I didn't put them too tight, did I?"

I didn't answer immediately. Her hand was warm and soothing on my skin and I could feel the pain receding. I cleared my throat quickly.

"No, just," I lost my train of thought again as she looked at me "I heard yelling and I just..." I trailed off. Ever since the time Lockwood had almost shot her, I was paranoid about something happening to Kate. I felt the need to be there and protect her.

Crazy, I know. But it helped me.

Beckett smiled slightly and let go of my hand. Ryan and Esposito had managed to get Jayne into the cruiser but he could still be heard voicing his complaints loudly.

"Let's get back," murmured Beckett. "We have to interrogate the ray of sunshine."

We both entered the car.

"Think he did it?" I asked Beckett as we pulled into traffic.

"The guy has a wide enough array of guns. I'll have to get a warrant for them then CSU can have a long night checkin' em."

I laughed lightly. "Lucky them."

Beckett smiled.

Oo..oO

**A/N: Yes, I did make a not-so-subtle **_**Firefly **_**reference. Love it or hate it, let me know! Next up, Jayne's interview and a twist that upsets Beckett.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Before we begin, I am so sorry. School has been crazy. I'm working on more chapters now and I'll try and update more often. I'm not totally confident about this chapter but I hope you guys like it.**

****I reposted this to fix a continuity error**

_Beckett smiled. _

Oo..oO

Mr. Cobb sat coolly in the interrogation room, staring at me. I stared back, eyes wide. He growled a little and sat forwards quickly. He was going to come at me! I shrieked and fell backwards. I got up quickly. Cobb smiled slightly and leaned back. Beckett raised an eyebrow at me before returning her attention to Cobb.

"Mr. Cobb," She started, "You've got quite a record."

There was no change of expression from Cobb.

"Assault, armed robbery, trafficking of illegal items-"

"Oh, drugs?" I interjected, "That's bad."

"No drugs," Beckett said, ignoring me, "But that's not what we're here for."

Cobb gazed steadily at Beckett.

"We're here," She shut her folder, "For murder." She slapped both her hands on the desk. I knew that she knew what I knew about Cobb. The buddy approach was not going to work on him. He responded to authority.

Cobb twitched slightly, as if surprised by her tactic. He kept his cool though.

Jeez, the man was like stone. I'd have squealed already. After hitting on Beckett profusely, of course.

"Colten Albeni," Beckett slid a picture over to Cobb. He glanced at it. "You know him?"

Cobb shrugged nonchalantly.

"We know you talked to him," I said surveying Cobb with what I assumed to be a commanding air.

He turned his gaze on me. I part of me wanting to go hide behind Beckett but I stayed firm and looked steadily back.

"I suggest you tell us what happened," Beckett said, calmly. The woman was ice. She was a beast in the interrogation room. "Or things could get...unpleasant for you."

Cobb leaned forwards. "You threatening me?"

Beckett smiled slightly. "No, I'm stating facts," She leaned forwards. "You've been doing quite a few illegal things. I'm sure if we search your apartment, stuff'll show up."

I saw where she was going with this and hopped right on.

"We could put you away for a good, long time, Mr. Cobb," I said, my face neutral. "But maybe we can cut a deal."

I felt Beckett tense beside me and she turned to look at me warningly. I had a plan though and I tried to communicate that. With a slight pursing of her mouth (Mmm, her mouth) we both turned back to Cobb.

"Yes," she said, "A deal."

"I'm listening," Cobb told us, leaning in. He looked quite intrigued.

"Tell us what happened and we'll forget the home search."

Cobb looked contemplative.

"Fine."

Oo..oO

Cobb told us that he had been approached by a man the night of Colten's murder. He didn't know his name but the man had offered Cobb a bunch of money to give Albeni a message.

Cobb was the sort of man who didn't ask questions so long as he was getting his money. He delivered the message to Albeni then went home to buy some guns on eBay.

While Ryan and Esposito ran Cobb's alibi, Beckett and I went to the morgue to get some more info about the body.

As usual, the morgue was clean and sterile. A 'place for everything and everything in its place' kind of deal.

Lanie was examining the body closely, her back to us.

"Hey Lanie," Beckett called out. Lanie jumped around and reached for the nearest scalpel.

"Geez, girl, you tryin' to kill me?" Beckett smiled easily.

"We were just wondering if you had any more info on Albeni,"

Lanie walked around the table and picked up an evidence tray. We both walked over and looking at what was contained in the plastic circle.

"22 caliber?" asked Beckett, peering at it.

Lanie nodded, "Or something. Never seen anything like it before. None of the guns from Cobb's place are a match."

Beckett turned her head to look at Lanie and moved slightly back, realizing how close she was to the body. I had been studying the bullet over her shoulder and she bumped into me. The second she did, I put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. Feeling my touch, she turned her head to me and opened her mouth, probably to ask me what I was doing.

She was so close to me. She froze and we stayed frozen, searching each others faces. I couldn't think. I wanted to lean in and kiss the confused look off her face. My hand stayed on her and she didn't move away.

I knew in that moment that if I chose to kiss her, she would let me. I started to lean in, breathing deeply. Cherries. Her eyes widened slightly but she didn't move. We drew closer. It seemed like hours had gone by since we first locked eyes. Days, years or maybe only seconds. But I didn't care. I was going to-

Lanie cleared her throat.

Beckett copied her and moved away quickly, hiding her face from me. She stepped quickly away just as I took a large step back and turned to face the body.

In my peripheral vision, I could see Lanie raising an eyebrow.

Beckett cleared her throat again. "Did CSU check all the weapons?" Was it just me or did her voice sound shaky?

If Lanie heard the light tremor, she chose to ignore it. "Yeah. Checked each one twice."

Beckett let out a frustrated breath. "So Cobb's not our man."

"But he would know what our man looked like," I said, turning around quickly. Beckett and Lanie turned their heads to me so fast, I was sure they'd get whiplash. Beckett looked like she wanted to smack her palm against her forehead.

"Right!" She turned back to Lanie. "Lanie, call us if you find anything else."

Lanie nodded and turned back to the body as Beckett walked purposefully out of the morgue.

"Comin', Castle?" She called back, not turning.

And I followed her as I always do.

Oo..oO

Cobb talked to the sketch artist for an hour. While that was going on, Beckett just stared at the murder board, chewing lightly on a finger nail. Once in a while she would get up and scribble something on the timeline or underneath a picture.

I knew that when she was like this, it was best to stay silent, let her think.

"Got any ideas?" I turned to look at Beckett in surprise. She was still staring intently at the murder board.

I walked closer to her and sat beside her on her desk. "Other than pirates, no, nothing."

She had been standing in front of the board. At my words, she let out a breath and backed up so she was next to me. She sat gracefully down next to me and reached behind her for something. Her hand re-emerged with a bowl of M&M's which she placed between us. In sync, we reached for some and popped them in our mouths, still contemplating Albeni's death.

I could hear Ryan and Esposito talking quietly from somewhere behind us.

"Do you think they know they do that?" Asked Ryan, in a hushed voice.

"Don't know, bro," Esposito replied

"I just seems so... practiced," Ryan said in amazement.

I smiled lightly. Beckett and I did often do things the exact same way at the exact same time. I took it as a sign from the universe.

Beckett suddenly stood up and turned towards the break room. A man with a sketch pad was emerging. How had she...?

The man brought the picture over to Ryan and exchanged a few quick words. Ryan walked over to us and handed the drawing to Beckett, face down.

"Guess who?" he asked with a stern face.

Oo..oO

Gary.

I knew I didn't like that man. Beckett had her angry someone-lied-to-me-excuse-me-while-I-go-on-a-killing-spree face on. I did not envy Gary Carlson right now. Actually, I'd never envy Gary Carlson. Ever.

"Uniforms bringing in Carlson?" I asked.

"Nope," she said shortly, "We're goin' to get him ourselves."

I half expected her to pull out her gun and hold it up menacingly. But she just smiled and grabbed her coat before whirling away to the elevator. I followed behind with a big smile.

I was going to enjoy this.

**A/N: Thank you all so much for reviewing and actually reading this story. Your comments make my day. I hope you guys will let me know if the story is declining at all and smack me upside the head. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Castle isn't mine, nor is anything you recognise. **

**Reason: Chapter 8**

_I was going to enjoy this_.

Beckett stormed up to the secretary in Gary Carlson's building. She slammed her badge down on the desk. The woman looked up quickly.

"I'm here to see Gary Carlson," she said smoothly.

I stood to the side of Beckett. The secretary glanced at me but I kept my face neutral. She looked at Beckett's all business expression then at her badge.

"I'll let him know you're here," she said, reaching for her phone.

"That won't be necessary," Beckett said, all authority.

"I'm sorry, I can't just let you go up there," said secretary. Her nameplate said Hannah.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going up there," Beckett told Hannah, never breaking eye contact.

"Actually," I threw in, "_We're _going up there." Beckett closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep calming breath.

Oh. I'd messed with her scary vibe.

"Let's go ,Castle," she said calmly, walking towards the elevators.

I mouthed sorry to Hannah before following Beckett.

Oo..oO

In the elevator, Beckett prepped her gun. I watched her as she checked the cartridge and re-holstered it. I was slightly envious. I wanted a gun. That would be so cool!

"Castle, I don't want to hear a word out of you when we're in there, got it?" She was looking at me in a way that made it impossible to disagree. I nodded.

"Yeah," I said with a slight smile, "You got this."

She chuckled softly and our eyes met. I held her gaze, a plethora of emotions running through me, leaving me frozen. How did she do this to me with a simple gaze? I couldn't help but wonder-

The ding of the elevator jerked our eyes apart as we looked at the now open door. Beckett hardened her expression.

"Alright, let's get this slimeball," she announced while leaving the elevator with confident strides.

"Uh, Beckett?" I asked innocently. She turned around in exasperation. I'd ruined her moment. I was doing that a lot recently. I pointed behind me. "His office is that way."

She quickly changed direction and strode past me without a word.

I couldn't help the small smile that appeared on my lips as I trotted after her.

What would she do without me?

Oo..oO

Beckett rapped on Gary's door, keeping a hand on her hip where I knew her badge and gun were.

"Gary Carlson, NYPD, open up!" she shouted.

The door swung open slowly and I felt a twinge of alarm. Becket glanced at me and I could see she was feeling the same alarm I was. She took out her gun and nudged the door open with her foot.

She went in cautiously, checking her sides, trusting me to watch her back. As I always did. I studied the room carefully, making sure to stay close to her. I didn't see anything.

"Clear," she yelled, moving over to the closet and looking at me. I swept my eyes around the room one more time, double checking.

There! A shadow moving quickly in the attached room. I inhaled sharply and pointed furiously towards where the movement had been. She made her way over to me and I moved behind her, checking where she couldn't see. There was more movement and some noise from the room. The door was shut and the curtains were drawn so it was impossible to see inside.

Why the hell did Gary Carlson have to have such a big, fancy office? I mean, really?

Beckett walked up to the door and looked at me. I checked the room behind us. Nothing. But, we hadn't checked the closet yet. Still...

"Clear," I answered, walking over to her. She nodded in understanding.

She kicked the door open with a bang and hurried inside, sweeping her gun across the room.

Nothing but an open window.

We both hurried over to it and looked around.

Nothing.

Damn.

"Let's check the closet," Becket sighed in a frustrated manner. She said 'let's'. As in let us. Us. There was an us.

"Yeah," I agreed, walking over to it. She still held her gun as if she was expecting this wasn't over.

"Alright," she said, "Let's be thorough."

Then, in one fluid motion she whipped the door open and pointed her gun inside.

"Oh shit," she muttered, lowering her gun. I looked over her shoulder.

There, crumpled against the wall, was Gary Carlson, a bullet hole in his chest.

Oo..oO

Sirens wailed from outside as Lanie knelt by what had once been Gary Carlson. There was a hole in the wall above him and a sickly blood smear from where he had slid down. His eyes stared sightlessly at the wall, his mouth open.

Beckett was talking to a CSU. She seemed to sense I was watching her and looked up at me, her face easing slightly.

She excused herself from the CSU and walked over to me. I met her halfway.

"So there goes our main lead," she said tiredly, running a hand through her hair.

"We'll find something," I told her, "There's always something." She smiled.

"That there is."

I tilted my head at her playfully. "Back to the precinct?"

She nodded. "Oh yeah."

We turned to leave. CSU was processing the scene and it would be a while until Beckett could perform her customary sweep.

"I'll call you when I find something!" Lanie called after us.

"Thanks Lanie," Beckett called back.

We walked down the hallway in silence.

"Who'd 'you think was in the secondary office?" I asked looking over at Beckett. I used this glance to see how she was doing. She looked tired.

She shrugged. "Honestly, at this point it could be anyone."

Anyone as in...

"Not pirates," she said quickly, smirking as my face dropped.

"Think about it," I began.

"I'd rather not."

I continued on, unswayed.

"The best thing we have right now is that pirate exhibit and the missing treasure."

"Could be totally unrelated."

"Could be. Could being the operative word."

"Castle..."

"Come on, Beckett," I stopped and turned towards her. "A diamond from the missing treasure was found with our vic. He was at the event. Carlson sent him a message while he was there."

She turned to me as well, crossing her arms. "I have Ryan and Esposito running both of their financials. We will find something. There are no pirates."

She started to walk away.

"Where is your whimsy?" I called after her, raising my arms.

"Lost it a long time ago, Castle," she called back, not turning.

And honestly, that broke my heart. I decided right then and there that I would bring whimsy back to Kate Beckett.

Oo..oO

Lanie put down two evidence trays on a table in the morgue.

"Same shooter," she announced.

Beckett and I leaned in to take a closer look. I tried very hard to not touch her.

The bullets were small and circular.

"What kind of gun fired these?" Breathed Beckett.

Lanie shrugged. "Nothin' I've ever seen before."

"They look old," observed Beckett.

"Yeah, maybe 18th century," replied Lanie

I stood up straight. 18th century? Pirat-

"Not pirates," said Beckett and I realized I'd been talking out loud.

"Well..." Lanie said, drawing an incredulous look from Beckett.

I raised my eyebrows at Beckett. She glared lightly at me but I could tell she didn't really mean it. At least, I didn't think she meant it...

"I did some research," continued Lanie, moving over to her computer. "Could be an 18th century percussion pistol."

She opened an image of a fancy looking gun. Old fashioned yet it had a simple elegance that just-

"Yeah Castle, we get it, it's pretty," Beckett said dryly.

"You're just upset because you'll have to go to dinner with me now," I said with a smug grin. She widened her eyes at me and raised an eyebrow.

"The deal was pirate connection. As in human. Not gun," she said, scrambling.

"Yeah, suuuuuure," I said happily. My mind was singing again. A happy little tune that went something along the lines of,

'_I'm having dinner with Beckett, _

_Beckett, Kate Beckett,_

_she's pretty.'_

What, I never claimed to be a songwriter.

"Excuse me? What's this about dinner now?"

It was comical really, the way Kate and I turned to face Lanie at the same time. I hadn't realized how close we'd drawn during our little...scuffle for lack of a better word.

We wore equal expressions of shock. I had totally forgotten where we were.

Lanie raised an eyebrow.

"Uhh..." Kate and I began at the same time.

"Kate," Lanie took a step in, "Rick."

She smiled lightly.

"Tell me or I will hurt you."

Beckett pushed out her lips and shrugged, her eyes wide and innocent. I smiled a half smile and tried to look like nothing had happened.

"Uh huh," said Lanie, turning away, "I see how it is." She walked over to the body of Gary Carlson. "I will find out what's goin' on here. Do not doubt me." She turned back to us quickly and I put on my ignorant expression again. She shook her head slightly and turned away. "Leave!" She called.

Kate and I hurried out of there as fast as we could, lightly pushing each other out of the way.

Back in the elevator, I nudged Kate with my elbow.

"Where'd'you wanna go for dinner?" She glared at me without turning her head.

I pressed on. "Italian?" She looked away. "French? Japanese?" She was ignoring me.

"Oh, Canadian?" She rolled her eyes.

"Does it-" she let out a breath. "Does it have to be a- at a fancy place?" I looked over at her, surprised by the vulnerability in her voice. She was avoiding my gaze, fidgeting with her ever-present leather gloves. She twisted them in her hands, biting her cheek.

I quickly went through a list. What would cause her this anxiety?All I could come up with were publicity or nervousness at not fitting in.

No way. Kate Beckett would fit in with the Queen. So it must be...

"Worried about the press?" I received no answer.

"We can do burgers at Remy's." I told her quietly, understanding her worry.

She looked at me quickly."Oh, you don't have to... just nowhere high profile."

"No, of course not." She nodded and the elevator doors slid open.

Beckett's phone started to ring. I caught a glimpse of the caller ID.

Josh.

Ugh.

Gross.

I dropped a pace back so she could have privacy but to my surprise, she ignored the call.

Huh.

She seemed to notice I wasn't beside her and she turned around, a curious expression on her face.

"Oh I just saw some..." I scrambled to find a reason. I didn't want her to know I was snooping her calls. "Mole people. Well I thought I saw some-"

"Uh huh," she cut in, smiling slightly like she knew what I was up too.

Because she did.

She always did. It's like she read my mind.

Then a thought struck me. "Hey Beckett, didn't Lanie say that Colten was shot with a 22caliber?"

"Yeah," Beckett said, turning to me. "Bullet hole was the same size."

"Wouldn't it be slightly off though?"

"Yeah, it was. Remember, she said the bullet was weird."

I nodded. It made sense now.

"Hey Beckett!" called Ryan from his desk. He waved some papers.

Esposito slid into view on his wheelie chair. "Financials are in."

Ryan smiled. "Got something good, too."

**A/N: Hope you like this! I worked on it for about five hours. And had my dad proof read it, which was torture. :P Thoughts?**

**Also, I realize my continuity sucks. I'm sorry. I'm working on it. I'm going to try and update every week.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise. **

**Reason: Chapter 9**

Oo..oO

_Ryan smiled. "Got something good, too."_

"You ran their financials"

She shrugged. "It was a dead end-"

"And you figured you had to do something." I finished, nodding slightly.

Ryan watched us with amusement. He is amused by us frequently.

Beckett turned back to the aforementioned amused man. Make that men. Esposito looked pretty entertained as well.

"What did you find?" she asked, ignoring the glance that passed between the two men.

"Well, when we first ran Carlson, something popped," began Esposito.

"Two withdrawals of $10,000," said Ryan

"When we ran Albeni, we saw he had deposited $10,000 a week before his death,"

"But we check Carlson's again and we see someone wired him $10,000 the day before Albeni's murder,"

"We trance the transfer and, guess who?"

Both Ryan and Esposito smiled.

"Who?" Beckett and I asked in tandem.

"Guess," challenged Ryan.

"I'm not guessing," Beckett said, putting out a hand to accept the folder.

"But..." He looked at me and I cocked an eyebrow. He handed over the folder and Esposito shook his head at his partner's antics.

Beckett opened the folder and I leaned in to look as well.

"Well, well, well," she turned her head slightly to look at me. "Look who lied."

Oo..oO

Aaron Gallagher fidgeted nervously in Interrogation Room One. His hair was messy and his clothes rumpled. He looked like he hadn't slept.

Beckett and I observed him from behind the one way glass. Once in a while he would glance at it, as if wondering if anyone was back there.

"What's our approached going to be here?" I asked, glancing at Beckett.

"Soft at first but we can go in harder if need be."

The innuendo in that struck me dumb. I think I may have squeaked because Beckett looked over at me and seemed to realize what she had said. Her mouth opened and closed quickly and a light blush coloured her features for a millisecond. Then she recovered.

"Mind outta the gutter, Castle, it's a valid interrogation tactic."

"Well," I began in a low voice, "If that's how you interrogate then I have something to conf-ow!" I broke off as Beckett grabbed my ear and twisted.

"Apples, apples, APPLES!" I yelled in pain. Her fingers were deadly!

She let go with a smirk and turned away quickly, her hair hitting my face.

I smelled cherries.

I lifted my hand to my ear and rubbed it gently. Then I followed her out.

"I think you broke it! It may never be the same!" I called after her, my voice high and whiny. A tone I knew annoyed her.

I could tell she was rolling her eyes.

Beckett walked into the room, eyes on Aaron. I followed soon after.

She chose a seat across from him and moved it to the head of the table so she was closer. That must be the soft approach. Okay, I could do that too. I took the other chair and moved it to the place hers had so recently been evicted from.

Beckett opened her mouth, probably to begin the interrogation but she never got started.

"I'm sorry," Aaron burst out, looking between Beckett and I with frightened eyes.

"You lied, Aaron," Beckett said softly.

"Why did you lie?" I asked, keeping my eyes on him. He continued to shift his gaze between the two of us.

"I-I felt so guilty," he began.

"About what?" Beckett asked, "Did you kill him?"

Aaron looked stunned. "No!" he said forcefully. "I would have never hurt Colt." He said never another time under his breath.

Beckett and I glanced to each other. Hard approach time.

Aaron doth protest too much.

"Then why, Aaron?" continued Beckett. "I have another body here. A man that you wired $10,000 to. You want to know what we're thinking?"

Aaron did not respond. I continued the tale.

"You loved him, didn't you?" Aaron glanced up at me then back down.

"What happened, you tell him and he laughs at you? Gets disgusted? Closes you out?"

Beckett picked up where I left off.

"Your feelings were hurt. You opened yourself up to him and he crushed you. He needed to pay."

"But you couldn't do it yourself," I continued "You still loved him."

"But if you couldn't be with him, well, no one could."

"So you paid Gary Carlson $10,000 dollars to do it for you."

"But he screwed you over. He hired Cobb to deliver a message to Colten telling him he was in danger."

"So you killed Colten yourself."

"Then you went on to Gary."

When Beckett finished saying that Aaron bolted upright.

"No!" He cried, "That's all wrong! I didn't kill anyone!"

"Then tell me what happened," said Beckett, her voice loud and commanding.

Aaron closed his eyes.

"Colt and I needed money," he murmured. This part was true; we had seen it in the financials.

"Colt said he'd find something. But something found us first."

Beckett and I both leaned in. Aaron kept his eyes shut.

"He said that all we had to do was take something and leave it on a bench in Central Park. He said it wouldn't be hard, that the items weren't even on display."

"Aaron," Beckett said, "What did you have to take?"

I had a feeling we already knew.

"Treasure," he told us, his voice almost a whisper. He opened his eyes and looked at us. "Pirates treasure. From a museum by Central Park."

"But you didn't go," I said, understanding. Aaron shook his head.

"I couldn't" he said in a strangled whisper. "I just- I've never broken a law."

I nodded in understanding while Beckett kept her focus entirely on Aaron.

"What were you supposed to do?" she asked.

"I was supposed to be the distraction. I would make some noise or act drunk until very eye was on me. He knew that the alarm system hadn't been set up yet. Don't ask me how, I don't know. Colten was supposed to get the treasure and sneak out the back. After ten minutes, I was supposed to leave," Aaron looked down at the table again. "But I bailed. I left him alone. And now he's dead." His voice broke on the final word.

I couldn't imagine what he must be going through.

"Who hired you to do this?" Beckett asked quietly, her voice soft and understanding. She still managed to be commanding though, a skill I envied immensely.

"Gary Carlson," Aaron choked out.

Well, I'd been expecting that. I could tell from the way Beckett nodded that she had been as well.

"Did anyone else know, Aaron?"

Aaron shook his head. "No. He delivered the money to us. Cash. Ten grand."

There was a brief silence.

"You were right," Aaron said, "Before. I- I love him. Loved, I- I guess."

Another pause.

"Thank you, Aaron." Beckett said, standing up slowly. She opened the door and an officer entered. "You may go."

Aaron stood up and the officer began to escort him out.

I couldn't resist. "Just don't leave town!" I called out.

Beckett didn't even dignify that with a look.

Oo..oO

We stood in front of the murder board, staring, both trying to make something click.

"Poor Aaron."

That statement was unexpected. It took me a moment to respond.

"Yeah, poor guy. In love but never got to say anything."

"He should have said something," Beckett said, looking at the murder board.

"Maybe he was afraid that Colten would break his heart," I countered, also not looking at her.

"It's always worth the risk. If it really is love, it's worth that risk."

"Not if it comes at the cost of destroying a friendship! He could have lost everything," I said.

"But look at the pain he's feeling! He would have told him eventually, he's smart. But he may have waited too long."

"Well, it's obvious he waited too long, Colten's dead."

"But if he wasn't. Colten may have felt the same way but given up when Aaron didn't make his move."

"Then Colten should have said something!"

"Maybe he was scared," she almost whispered. "Maybe he wasn't sure how Aaron felt and didn't want to ruin the best thing that ever happened to him."

I lowered my voice as well. "That's what I was saying."

"If they were thinking the same thing-"

"Hypothetically."

"Yes. Hypothetically, if they were thinking the same thing and scared for the same reasons-"

"Then they should have just talked."

We both turned to look at each other. I took in every expression flitting through her eyes and across her face. Her walls had fallen. I knew this look. I had only seen it a handful of times but I knew it meant that she was open. She had let that impenetrable Beckett guard down. If there was ever a time for me to make my move, it was now.

"Kate," I began, "I've been thinking..."

I saw a ghost of a smile on her face. I knew why. She was thinking of all the other times I'd said that.

And I was going to tell her. I honestly was. I opened my mouth to begin and-

Her phone rang.

She shut her eyes and bit her cheek. I looked down and took a deep breath.

"You should answer your phone more often," I finished lamely, trying to make it seem like that was what I was going to say the whole time.

She smiled joylessly. She was trying to make it seem coy and funny, like she also thought that was what I was going to say, but I knew her so well that I saw right through it.

She looked at her phone and sighed.

"He's been calling all day," she said, tiredly. "I should probably answer."

And just like that, her walls were back.

"Yeah," I agreed, feeling like I should be screaming no and throwing her phone. But I couldn't.

The moment was gone.

I doubted it would arise again.

"I'm going to go," I told her. She looked up. The first thing I saw was confusion that quickly changed to weary acceptance.

"Yeah," she agreed, brightening her voice back to normal. "It's late."

"Until tomorrow, Detective."

She smiled. A real smile this time.

"Night, Castle."

And I smiled back.

**A/N: And cut! So the whole fighting over Aaron and Colten but really fighting over them thing just swooped into my room and attacked me so if it seems strange and OOC, I apologise. The story started writing itself. As always, your comments are welcome. More than welcome, actually. I'd love them. I could marry them, I love them so much. Creepy? Yeah, I do that.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for the late update, I've been sick. Still am, but still. Hey, Chapter 10!**

**Disclaimer: Can't we just assume that I don't own Castle? If I somehow, magically own it one day, I'll let you know. **

**Reason: Chapter 10**

_And I smiled back._

I first realized that Kate Beckett and I were meant to be together when we worked the murder of Zalman Drake, renowned magician.

I had been fighting with Gina. It was in the paper and everyone was pestering me about it.

Everyone except her.

I sort of realized it when she told me about the magic trick with ice cubes. I still don't know her motivation behind telling me that, but I suspect it was just for kicks.

Gina had never gotten me to react like that. No one had. Kate had such control over me. She knew just what to say and just how to say it to get a reaction.

The final nail was when we were finishing each other's sentences. It was the first time I'd really noticed it. Sure Ryan and Esposito had mentioned it occasionally but this was the first time that I had realized we were finishing each other's thoughts.

And it was thrilling.

The thought that Kate Beckett and I thought the same and fed off of each other's ideas to create this one great theory was invigorating. I stared at her, eyes and mouth open, just beaming as realization crashed over me.

I loved her. I loved Kate Beckett. I was in love with her. Everything about her.

I had been for a while. For a year, at least. The fact that I had just noticed now both elated me and made me feel like an idiot. How could it have taken this long for the feeling to register?

But then she'd noticed and asked "what?" in such a tone that I'd immediately said "nothing" in my most innocent voice.

I'd known I liked her for a while and I wanted her from the first day we met. This, however, was the first moment I realized I loved her.

So I broke it off with Gina and felt sad. Sad, but free.

When Kate asked me to eat comfort food with her, the sadness left.

When she'd pulled those flowers out of her sleeve, I'd felt damn near elated.

There was hope.

Oo..oO

I was woken by the chorus of 'Who's That Lady' once again. I had been smart and left my phone on my nightstand just in case.

I answered it. "Did you call to tell me my breakfast is ready?"

"I was thinking we should search Albeni's apartment again."

"Why? Searching for pirates?"

"No," she said, exasperated, "There could be more evidence."

"Meet you there?"

"I'll pick you up in 30."

"Your coffee will be waiting for you."

We both hung up and I hurried to get dressed. I checked the clock; 6:30am.

As per usual, Alexis was in the kitchen. She had her head tilted to her one shoulder, holding down her phone, while her hands were busy making a bowl of cereal. I sensed disaster looming not far over the horizon. I hurried over to her and relieved her of the box. She mouthed thank you and picked up her phone.

The cereal she had chosen was bland. And healthy. Ugh. I decided to pick something more... fun.

I made two bowls of cereal and put one down in front of her. She looked incredulously at my choice of Fruit Loops but shook her head slightly.

"Yeah, I'll call you later. Love you too, bye!"

So she had been talking to Ashley.

"Morning!" I sang cheerily.

"Morning dad," she replied before taking bite of her cereal. "What's got you up so early?"

I finished chewing quickly and swallowed, almost choking in my haste. "Beckett called. We're going to check out of first vic's apartment. Again."

"Still thinking pirates?"

I smiled slyly. Nothing could make me sway from my pirate theory and I told her so.

"You made some kind of bet with Detective Beckett, didn't you?"

"You know me too well."

"Sadly," she muttered into her cereal. I gave her a slightly sneering look.

"Good morning, darlings!" The voice came flowing down the stairs, announcing the imminent arrival of my mother, Martha Rodgers.

"Morning, Gram," answered Alexis.

"Mother, what are you doing up this early?" I asked her, skipping greetings.

"Richard, you may not realize, but your voice carries," she replied, waving her hands vaguely in what I assumed to be a demonstration of my voice carrying.

"Sorry Mother," I said in a sing-song voice. I looked at the clock again and rushed to the coffee machine. I had to have Beckett's coffee ready. It had to be perfect. Not to mention, I was planning on making her breakfast.

Waffles, maybe.

I rushed around the kitchen cooking and preparing the perfect cup of coffee. My mother and Alexis chatted in the background about school, Ashley and acting.

At 8am sharp, there was a knock on my door.

"I'll get it!" chimed Alexis. I took the waffle out of the press and scooped whipped cream onto it. The door opened and I heard Alexis and Kate exchanging greetings and inquires about well-being.

As I placed a strawberry dead-center in the whipped cream, I heard my mother get up and greet Kate as well, giving me a little more time. I put the finishing touches on the coffee and, with impeccable timing, put it in front of the spot Kate just walked up to.

She raised an eyebrow at me.

"You made me breakfast?" Her tone was indecipherable.

"Thought you might be hungry," I informed her with a smile.

A small smile graced her lips and her eyes softened a little.

"Thanks, that's really," she seemed to be thinking for the right word, "Sweet."

I stared into her eyes, grinning at her. I could see her thanks and how much the gesture really meant to her. It was worth the work.

"Umm..." A voice interrupted the moment, hesitantly.

I jerked my eyes away from Kate to look in the direction of the noise.

It was Alexis. She was standing awkwardly to the side of Kate and I with her school bag. My mother was standing by the stairs, on hand on the banister in a dramatic way. She was looking a little too satisfied for my liking.

"What is it, sweetie?" I asked my daughter in an effort to ease her awkwardness.

"I have to go," she said, "Bye dad, Detective Beckett!" She nodded and smiled at each of us, leaning in to kiss my cheek.

Everyone wished Alexis a good day and she waved once more over her shoulder before shutting the door behind her.

"I assume you two will be leaving soon?" My mother asked, still by the stairs. She still looked satisfied, as if her greatest wish had come true and it was all her doing.

"Yeah," Kate told her. "I really don't know if I have time to-"

"Oh come on, Kate!" I begged, "I slaved over that!"

I barely noted my mother retiring to her room as we bickered.

"Well," Kate said slowly, teasingly, "I suppose I might be able to have a little..."

She picked up the strawberry, whipped cream and all and very slowly put it in her mouth.

I nearly died.

She smiled evilly at the expression on my face. As she did so, she lost her grip on the strawberry and it fell onto her lap.

"Oh, great," she muttered sarcastically, scooping whipped cream off with her finger. I handed her a napkin. Her clothes didn't seem too damaged; a little water would get it off.

Her clothes are worth mentioning. She wore her favourite black leather jacket over a loose fitting, yet shapely beige top. Her light blue jeans and high, black, Beckett heels finished off the outfit flawlessly.

They were her back-up clothes that she kept in her locker.

What would have her wearing her back-up clothes? She normally only put them on if irreparable harm had come to her clothes of choice. Or...

"Did you sleep at the precinct last night?" I asked, trying hard to make the question sound harmless. If you push Kate, she clams up and you get nothing out of her.

She swallowed her bite of waffle and nodded, seemingly nonchalant.

"Yeah, I fell asleep at my desk." Her voice was bright but it seemed overly so. And there was something about her expression...

I decided to let it go.

"Any breaks in the case?"

She was working on another mouthful of waffle and only shook her head.

She continued to eat, seemingly enjoying the delicious meal I had prepared.

"Want me to put your coffee in a travel mug?" I asked, holding one up. It had her name on it. I mean, literally. I had had it made just in case. Wishful thinking and all.

She quirked one eyebrow at me and shook her head. Swallowing, she said, "No. I think I'm going to want another waffle. I skipped dinner and this is amazing!" As she finished that sentence she grinned a little and helped herself to more.

"Will you want eggs with that?" I asked her mockingly, raising my eyebrow.

The smile on my face as I worked on that second waffle could have been seen from space.

**A/N: I honestly planned to put stuff to do with the case in this chapter. Really, I did. But it just ran away from me. A couple of things:**

**You may have noticed that I have Castle call Beckett Kate when they're out of the precinct or having a moment of something. Beckett is reserved for when she is detecting and such.**

**If you notice any errors, whether spelling, grammar or continuity, please, please let me know. I'm my own proof-reader.**

**Yeah, that's about it. Reviews = happy me and day 100X better. :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm not overly confident about this chapter but I'm sick and have nothing to do but write and update. You lucky people, you. Please review. It honestly helps.**

**Disclaimer: Castle's not mine. I don't magically own it. **

**Reason: Chapter 11**

Albeni's apartment was in a grimy hallway with and even grimy-er staircase. I felt like I was going to get some sort of disease.

Beckett and I walked up the stairs in silence. I was trying not to touch the walls. It kind of reminded me of going to see Carlson the other day.

Except we weren't in an elevator and she wasn't checking her gun. And the diseases living in the walls could kill a small town.

"Don't they ever clean?" I asked with distaste.

Beckett laughed.

"Probably not," she replied.

"Aren't there laws against the construction of bio-weapons?" I asked, gesturing at a slimy patch on the wall. I shuddered and walked by it, giving it a wide berth.

"It's just a bit of unidentifiable sludge," Beckett replied lightly, laughing. She immediately stopped when her foot landed in a pile of...well...unidentifiable sludge.

As she removed her foot from the unappealing ooze and continued, she muttered something about calling the health department and expensive shoes.

We emerged from the stairwell and turned towards Albeni's door.

Then Beckett and I both froze.

The yellow tape was cut.

The door was ajar.

Good god, again?

Beckett put her arm out to push me back and I complied. She took out her gun and advanced towards the apartment. She burst in and searched from side to side.

"Woah!"

We both turned to the man who had spoken. His arms were up and his eyes wide.

"NYPD!" Yelled Beckett, steadying her gun on him. I looked around for other threats.

"Cops?" He asked, bewildered. "Is Colt in trouble?"

"Identify yourself," Beckett demanded, power-playing by ignoring his question.

He looked sort of familiar but I couldn't exactly place it.

The man was saying something along the lines of "I want a lawyer" but with more swearing and unco-operativeness. I tuned him out and let my eyes wander, trying to remember why I sort of recognised him when I saw a picture and it clicked.

"Tristen," I said, both to him and Beckett. "You're Tristen Albeni."

He clenched his jaw together and faced me defiantly.

"Yeah," He answered, defensive, "What's it to you?"

Beckett walked forwards, putting away her gun and pulling out her handcuffs.

"You're wanted for questioning about the murder of Colten Albeni."

As Beckett slapped the cuffs on, Tristens face was unreadable.

What did he know?

Oo..oO

"Think he did it?" I asked Beckett. We were standing in front of the murder board. We had nothing that suggested Tristen was the killer except for his absence.

"There's no motive," she replied, sounding weary.

She was right. Tristen had no reason to kill his brother. Actually, the only person who had reason to kill Colten had been killed himself.

I could think of no one that would want to kill both of them.

Beckett's phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and sighed, pressing the ignore button.

Interesting.

"Hey Beckett!" Called Esposito, walking over triumphantly. He had a beautiful, evidence-holding folder in his hand.

"What's up, Espo?" Asked Beckett, turning to him. He waved the folder slightly.

"CSU was looking through Gary's office when they found these," he opened the folder and showed a bunch of receipts.

"Gambling?" I inquired. He nodded.

"We run 'em and find that they're from an unsavoury joint in Chinatown."

"Why is it always Chinatown?" I muttered.

I was ignored.

"Ryan and I go down there and ask a few questions and get nothing but with a little...persuasion," He tilts his head back towards a group of dirty, unhappy looking men. I took it to mean that 'persuasion' was threats of obstruction of justice charges. Esposito continued, "They had a change of heart."

"And?" I asked.

"They know Carlson," He said, "He was a regular. In pretty deep."

"So he needed money," Beckett said, nodding. That explained why Carlson wanted to steal treasure. He needed money. And by the look of the guys heading to lock-up, he needed it fast.

"But that's not all," Esposito added, "Guess who else they know?"

"Tristen Albeni," Beckett and I answered at the same time.

Esposito smiled and nodded.

"Tristen is a sort of loan shark." Esposito told us.

"So Carlson gets in over his head in gambling debts," Becket began slowly.

"He owes Tristen money," I continued, spinning it around in my mind

"Tristen gives him Coltens' number, knowing Colten needs the money,"

"But Colten pockets some of the loot,"

"He won't give it up,"

"He walks away and Tristen fires, half on purpose, half by accident,"

"Then he goes after Carlson,"

"Because Carlson knows-"

"And also pocketed some of the treasure!"

"He won't tell where it is,"

"Tristen gets mad and shoots him,"

"He goes to check his brothers place again for treasure-"

"And we catch him!"

I beamed at her and she beamed back, triumph radiating off of her.

Esposito looked between the two of us with a strange smile.

"Alright, let's get Tristen Albeni," said Beckett, smiling and turning to walk towards the interrogation room.

Oo..oO

"Look, lady-"

"Detective," I interrupted.

Beckett shut her eyes in exasperation and Tristen shrugged.

"Yeah," he continued, "Detective. I didn't kill nobody."

He looked defiantly at us, leaning back in his chair. His arms were crossed over his chest and his jaw pushed out.

Anger.

"Where have you been, Tristen?" Beckett inquired.

"Yeah," I re-enforced. "We've been looking for you."

"None of your business," Tristen said, glaring at us.

"No, but your _brother's dead body_ is," Beckett said forcefully, "You say you didn't kill anybody?"

Tristen did not change expression.

"Then tell me where you were," Beckett demanded, "And we'll get this whole mess cleared up."

Tristen looked away, face still unreadable.

"Okay, I see," Beckett continued, "Wanna know how it looks from here?"

Smartly, Tristen didn't answer. It was obvious he had no choice.

"You loan money to people who've gotten in too deep. Gary Carlson needed money and you gave it to him."

I picked up where she stopped. "But Carlson couldn't pay you back. And your brother needed money."

"So you hook Colten up with Carlson to pull a job on a museum and get money."

"But you don't get your money."

"Nope. Your brother double crossed you. Your little brother, who'd you'd always looked out for, had slapped you across the face."

Tristen looked back at us, anger now clearly visible on his face. We continued, relentless.

"So you go after him, to get your money. But he insults you and walks away."

"You fire the gun before you know what you're doing."

"And Colten falls into the hole."

"Hole?" Tristen choked out.

He was ignored.

"There's nothing you can do but run. And run you do."

"Right to Carlson."

"He won't give up the treasure either. He's buried it."

I looked at Beckett in surprise and she was looking right back at me.

"But he's made a map."

"So you take the map and kill him in the closet."

"And escape when we arrive."

"Something's missing though."

Yes!

"You go to Colten's apartment."

"And we catch you."

Beckett and I turned back to Tristen who was staring between us with a mixture of anger and incredulity on his face.

"You two watch too many movies," he told us, "That's crazy!"

"Where were you, Tristen?"

"Have you ever lost somebody?" Tristen asked, looking first at me, then Beckett.

There was no answer but I felt Beckett tense slightly beside me. It was a subtle change, Tristen wouldn't pick up on it.

"It's like a stabbing in your gut. And you're accusing me of killing my brother? Have you ever been accused of the death of a loved one? No. I would _never_ hurt Colten," he slammed his fist on the table, "Never!"

Beckett clenched her jaw and her fingers twitched. She wanted to touch her mother's ring.

Tristen looked away again and crumpled slightly.

"Carlson didn't owe me anything. He'd stopped gambling months ago. I had no problem with him."

"_Where_, Tristen. Tell me _where_." Beckett demanded, not showing his earlier inquiry had affected her.

Tristen swallowed and the anger left him.

"Colt had stopped answering my calls when he got outta jail. Can't really blame him," Tristen said, still not looking at us. He took a breath and continued, "I went there today to apologise. I've been in rehab."

There was no joy in his voice.

"Which centre?"

"Safehaven," he muttered.

Beckett stood up and I followed her lead.

"I'll check it out," she said.

Tristen didn't respond. He just looked defeated now.

Beckett strode out and I followed, sparing one glance for the broken man still sitting at the table.

"Tristens alibi checks," Ryan told Beckett and I, walking over from his desk, "Been there since he got out of jail. Signed himself in and didn't leave until today."

"So we got nothing," Beckett said, "Again."

This case was annoying. Dead ends galore.

Beckett had been fidgeting with her mothers ring since the interrogation, pulling on the chain and twirling it around, staring at it sometimes. I don't think she realized she was doing it.

Beckett's phone rang and I stuck a glance at the caller ID.

Josh. Again. It was the third time he'd called in the past two hours.

Beckett answered.

"Beckett," she said, professionally, before walking away, out of earshot.

I turned to Ryan who had been watching her retreating from with concern.

"You know what's...?" I started vaguely, searching for more information.

Ryan looked behind me, confused for a few moments. Just as I was about to turn and take a look for myself...

"Nope," Ryan told me definitively before turning and walking back to his desk.

Okay, that was strange.

Then I heard Beckett's voice. She was yelling.

"You can't just show up here and yell! I'm at work!"

"You're always at work! I never see you! What the hell am I supposed to do?" It was a male voice and I recognised it.

Josh.

The bull pen had gone silent but the quarrelling couple didn't seem to notice.

"So this is all _my_ fault? I have a _job_, Josh!"

"You know that's not what I mean! There's something between you and that asshole writer of yours."

"He's my _partner_! I'm not cheating on you!"

The voices had gotten louder. I looked at Ryan and Esposito in alarm. We all stood up at once.

"How the hell am I supposed to know? I never see you!"

"Yeah, cause you're at work!"

"I have an important job!"

Ryan, Esposito and I started towards where the yelling was coming from. We didn't have to go far.

By the entrance to the stairwell, Kate and Josh stood, face to face, screaming at each other. Both of them had clenched fists.

"Yeah? Well so do I!"

"Sure. They're dead, Kate. You can leave on time. They can be put on hold if we have a date."

"Oh, so my cases can be put on hold but you can't turn your damn pager off?"

"I save lives!"

"And I bring closure!"

"These people are not your mother, Kate!"

Ohmygod he did not just. I took an angry step forwards.

"You-" she began deadly silent. She was shaking and looked ready to hurt someone. Josh stared down at her, repenting nothing.

"Kate," I said softly. She didn't look at me, but Josh did.

"Screw off, Castle, I know what's going on between you two," he growled, looking between Kate and I. "I'm not an idiot."

Obviously, he was.

"Josh, _back off,_" I told him, "Kate would never cheat on you. That accusation is ridiculous!"

I stepped forwards . Kate looked like she could kill him.

Kate began speaking again.

"You have no right," She growled, "No right to mention my mother! No right to come in here and say I'm cheating on you with Castle!"

Josh began to open his mouth.

"Get out!" Beckett screamed. Her wall had cracked to pieces and she was on the edge. So many emotions were swirling across her face, they were impossible to keep track of.

Pain was most prominent.

Ryan and Esposito started forwards again, towards Josh.

"I'm not going anywhere!" he said, stepping towards her, "We are not done."

"We are," she said, calmly, but I could hear her voice shaking. "Get out."

"No," Josh said stepping towards her. She didn't step back. In fact, she stepped towards him.

Ryan and Esposito both grabbed Josh and shoved him back against the wall and I grabbed Kate's arm.

"Get out," Esposito growled.

"Before we charge you with everything we can think of," Ryan finished.

Josh pulled himself upright and glared at Kate once more.

"We are not done here," he said.

She did not respond.

Ryan and Esposito grabbed him and pushed him back towards the elevator.

When he was gone, Kate sunk against the wall. I released her.

"Shit," she whispered.

I walked over to her and leaned next to her cautiously, wondering if she would accept my presence.

"Yeah," I agreed, "Are you ok?"

She covered her face with her hands and let out a small noise of frustration that threatened to turn into a scream.

"It's not your fault," I told her in a whisper. There was no response.

I wanted to pull her into a lasting hug, rock her and tell her it would be ok. Anything to take her pain away. Seeing her hurt was like being stabbed in the gut and it was worse knowing that I could do nothing,

"Maybe you should head out early," I suggested quietly.

She stayed in the same position, silent now.

Her response was so quiet I had to strain to hear her.

"Maybe,"

"Would you like me to drive you somewhere?" I asked. She couldn't drive like this.

I was vaguely aware of Ryan and Esposito returning. I heard them yelling at everyone to get back to work.

Beckett did as well.

"Shit," she muttered, taking her hands away from her face and leaning her head against the wall, "That was stupid."

"It's not your fault," I told her, leaning in, "He had no right."

She was silent. She refused to look at me, instead she focused her attention on the ceiling.

The pain in her eyes was palpable. She was trying frantically to compartmentalize and build her wall back again.

She took a deep breath and stepped away from the wall of the hallway.

"Let's go back to work," she said, finally looking at me. To the untrained Beckett observer, there was nothing in her eyes. But I saw the residual pain.

And it killed me.

"Yeah, maybe we'll be able to catch a lead," I said jokingly.

She smiled. "We're gunna crack this case wide open," she replied.

I held out my hand in an invitation for her to feed the birds.

With a smile that reached her eyes, she did.

Oo..oO

**So I may have gone kinda OOC with Beckett there. The fight and all... Meh, I don't know. I didn't think that a little thing like a screaming match with Dr. Motorcycle Boy would deter her from work. **

**I would love your thoughts.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Reason: Chapter 12**

As Beckett walked back into the bullpen, it grew silent. With a neutral face, Beckett made her way over to the murder board. Ryan and Esposito were there, glaring at those who were dumb enough to openly stare.

I followed Beckett's lead and ignored the gawkers but I couldn't help but to send a chilling glare at a uniform who was watching her with a mixture of surprise, awe and contempt. At least, that's how I interpreted it. He could have been yawning.

"Beckett," I began, "I've been thinking..."

She smirked at me. "Congratulations. You want a present?"

"If by present you mean-" I began in a low voice, "Ow! Leggo, leggo!" She had grabbed my nose in a death grip.

Ryan chuckled and Esposito just smirked. I brought my hands up to cover the hand that was currently squeezing the life out of my nose and pulled. It only increased my pain.

"Beckett," I whined as best as I could. She smiled in satisfaction and let go.

I rubbed my nose and glared at her. She shot me a coy look.

"As I was saying before you tried to remove my nose," I began, "We should check out Carlson's office."

She still looked amused and a little pleased with herself. She had pushed any other feelings into a little box and locked it tight.

"CSU already dug that place apart. There's nothing there," she told me, looking at me steadily, challenging me to come up with another idea.

I thought for a moment. Then an idea struck me. "What about Carlson's apartment?"

Beckett looked at me, silently telling me to continue. I did. "There was no reason to be overly thorough, he wasn't killed there."

Beckett's eyes showed she knew where I was going with this. "They could have missed something hidden."

As per usual, our brains were whizzing along the same track, using the others ideas as fuel.

"Like the treasure," we both said at the same time. I smiled at her and she cautiously smiled back.

"Let's go," she said.

"I just hope there isn't another surprise waiting there for us," I muttered while grabbing my jacket.

Oo..oO

It was obvious the man had no style.

He was clashing contemporary furniture with modern and a couple pieces that looked like they'd belonged to his great grandmother.

"You are so metrosexual," Beckett told me, shaking her head.

"Hey, at least I have taste," I said, pointing at a lamp shaped like a cat, "I mean, come on."

"It's pretty fashionable," she taunted.

"Yeah, if you're a crazy cat lady."

Beckett rolled her eyes and opened a drawer in Gary Carlson's desk. As she rummaged through it, I walked away from her and into Carlson's bedroom.

At least it was clean.

There was the same eclectic-ness in the decorations that seemed to be the binding feature around the house. I chose to assume Gary was going for randomness as a sort of statement.

I could hear Beckett opening and closing things, moving them, searching thoroughly. I decided to do the same.

There was a really cool pirate ship replica on Carlson's dresser. I walked over to it. Odd, it was sitting on an angle and was wobbling something fierce. I leaned in close to it. The model cannons were all pointed at me as I stared at the base of the ship. I was just reaching to move it when I was started by Beckett.

"Careful, Castle, those cannons may shootcha," she teased, leaning against the door frame, arms crossed and one knee bent at an angle, her ankles crossing in, I must admit, a sexy manner.

I pulled my face back and stood up straight. "It's crooked," I told her, pointing. She removed herself from the wall and uncrossed her arms in one fluid motion. As she walked over to me, she tossed her hair over her shoulder.

Did she even know what she was doing?

Sexy, beautiful, alluring... all without trying.

She studied the ship carefully, a small crease appearing in between her eyebrows.

"Huh, you're right, Castle," she announced, leaning towards the ship. "There's something under it..."

Her voice trailed off as she reached out to move the model. I leaned in with her and, with baited breath, waited for her to reveal what was underneath.

She pulled on a latex glove and lifted the replica. My eyes immediately went to what was underneath.

An envelope.

I reached to grab it but Beckett stopped me. "Finger prints," she told me. "We don't know who left this."

"Gary, would be my guess," I told her, sulking slightly.

She picked up the envelope. It was upside down. Far too slowly for my tastes, she turned it over. There was a brief scrawl of writing on the front.

_Detective Beckett and Writer Boy_

My eyes narrowed and Beckett suppressed a laugh with a cough.

"Lanie totally left this," I muttered. Beckett chuckled and turned the envelope back over to open it. She pulled her pocket knife out and slashed open the letter smoothly. Carefully, she removed the paper inside.

_Obviously, if you're reading this, I must be dead. _

The guy lacked originality.

_I lied before. I knew Albeni. He had applied for a job with me. I knew he needed cash. I did too. Gambling. So, I got him to steal something for me. We had a damn fine plan; his friend would distract, he would steal, the both of them would get outta there and give me the jewels. They'd get a cut, of course. But the friend backed out. I didn't want Albeni to go it alone and I sure as hell wasn't helping so I told him to wait. Kid wouldn't listen. He went ahead with it. So I got this thug, Cobb, to tell him to drop it. Well, to give him a note telling him to drop it. He didn't pay attention and grabbed the jewels anyway. He called me and told me to meet him in the park. I went there but didn't see him, just the bag of jewels and a hastily scribbled note telling me to hide them. I was going to ignore him but then I heard the gun shot. _

_I have never been so scared. I ran outta there and hid the loot. I didn't kill Albeni. But I think I may know who did._

My breath stopped at that last sentence and I continued reading.

_Look into whoever owned those jewels we lifted. All the stuff in that museum was donated; they had to come from somewhere. Maybe Albeni screwed up and someone saw him. Maybe we just chose the wrong guy to steal from. _

_Either way, I know I'm dead. I have the jewels. I'm the only one who knows where they are and I sure as hell am not gunna tell. But I'll give you a clue. Better, actually. I made up a clue. Got two copies. One, I keep in my office. The second...in this envelope. _

_I hope you find my killer, Detective Beckett. I also hope you come to your senses and-_

Beckett promptly shut the letter.

"Hey," I protested, reaching for it. "I wasn't done yet!"

Beckettt avoided eye contact with me. "Too bad."

I let out a frustrated breath. _Come to your senses and_ what? I promptly forgot all about that when Beckett pulled a second piece of paper from the envelope.

_In the city where I live,_

_There's those who do no longer._

_In a place that's made of stone,_

_Named of potential counters,_

_Lies the thing you seek the most,_

_The treasure; yours to find._

"The man _sucks_ at rhyme," I announced.

"Maybe it's contemporary," said Beckett, her eyes still scanning the paper.

"Either way," I told her. "It's atrocious."

Beckett tore her gaze away from the riddle to roll her eyes at me. She folded it up and stuck it back in the envelope, along with Gary's letter. The whole ensemble went into her pocket.

"Back to the precinct," she said and promptly turned and walked away, the scent of cherries lingering.

I allowed myself a moment to bask in the pure awesome of her exit.

"You coming?" Beckett called. Maybe it had been more than a moment.

"Yep!" I answered, dashing away from Gary's (is it weird I still call him Gary?) room and into the hallway where Beckett stood waiting.

"I know you like that cat lamp," Beckett began, a teasing tone in her voice. "But you can't just stare at it all day."

"You doubt my cat lamp staring abilities?" I asked her, raising one eyebrow.

"Yes," she told me bluntly. "Yes, I do."

"Well, the 'city I live in' has gotta be New York," Beckett pointed out.

We were sitting at her desk staring at the note. Our legs were pressed together and our shoulders rubbed as we both leaned in to examine it further. It was as if the closer we were to the note, the more sense it would make.

Exhaustion was making letters and clues swirl around in my head and I was on a serious coffee high. I could tell Beckett was feeling the same. We had Ryan and Esposito checking out who owned the stolen goods. Maybe Gary was on to something.

"'Those who do no longer' is probably dead people," I offered. She wrote it down on a piece of paper.

"Okay, so 'in a place that's made of stone' could be a church," she said, scribbling that down with a question mark next to 'New York' and 'dead people'.

"Cemetery would make more sense," I told her. "Look at the next bit." I put my finger next to the line I was talking about before continuing. "'Named of potential counters'. Could be marble," I said. "Like-"

She cut me off, eyes gleaming. "Headstones."

I nodded at her with a smile. Progress. She scratched out church and wrote in marble and cemeteries.

"The last bit is just about the treasure hunt," she muttered, almost to herself.

"So if we put together New York and cemetery, what do we get?"

"A list of cemeteries," she told me.

I shot her a look. She smiled.

"Marble is on a separate line and says 'named'," she offered.

"So... New York, cemetery and marble..." I murmured, turning it around in my brain.

"I'll put it in the computer," she said.

The results popped up almost instantly.

We looked at each other and smiled.

"Got it," we said in unison.

**A/N: Yes, I am well aware that clue sucked and was easy as babies. It was the best my illness addled brain could come up with. **

**Reviews are love. They mean a lot to me. **

**In other news, I got Beckett heels for my halloween costume. I'm being Becektt, by the way. :) And my feet hurt so much... how does Stana do it?**


	13. Chapter 13

**Reason: Chapter 13**

New York City Marble Cemetery was lovely this time of year. The air was crisp and clear, signing the coming of fall. The trees were just starting to turn but the grass was as green and clipped as ever. There were no headstones, only marker pillars, as the occupants were all buried in underground vaults made of solid white marble.

Beckett's eyes wandered over the graves and for a moment, her impenetrable mask slipped, giving me a glimpse into her emotions. What I saw saddened me. Her face was solemn as she reached her hand up to clasp her mother's ring. Unconsciously, her fingers fidgeted with it. She seemed to realize what she was doing for she looked at them and dropped it, clearing her throat.

I wanted to ask her what was on her mind but I allowed it to pass by. The last thing she needed was an interrogation as to her feelings.

"Where do you think Carlson hit the gems?" I asked, turning to look at her. She seemed slightly relieved that I hadn't pushed her or offered some condolence.

"Could be anywhere, really," she replied, scanning the area.

"What if Gary had a relative buried here?"

Beckett looked at me again and I continued. "A pirate relative. Gary decided it would be poetic to-"

"No." Beckett looked away again. "We should look for signs of recent digging."

"It's a cemetery. They dig here."

She gave me a shut-up-Castle look to which I replied with a what-did-I-do-now one.

"No one's been interred here since the 1960's," she told me, sounding all smart and superior.

"You looked that up on your phone just now, didn't you?"

She smiled sneakily. That gave me an idea. I quickly whipped out my phone and googled 'New York City Marble Cemetery' and pulled up the website.

"Hey Beckett," I called, tapping her on the shoulder. She turned.

"What is it?"

I turned my phone to show her.

"The website for the cemetery has all the interments listed."

She looked at me and matched the triumphant smile on my face.

"Let's find out if there's a Carlson on that list."

Oo..oO

Esposito rolled his chair over to where Beckett and I were sitting.

"Bad news. No Carlson on that list," he said, leaning back.

"You sure?" I asked, leaning towards him.

"Yeah, dude. Even used the search function."

I sat back with a huff.

"Check his mothers' maiden name," Beckett commanded. Esposito nodded once.

"On it, boss." He slid away smoothly.

Beckett's phone rang, cutting through the relative silence of the bull pen. I saw Josh's name just before Beckett pressed ignore with a ferocity that surprised me. I decided to change the subject. Anything would do.

"What's the mothers' maiden name?" I asked, not having heard it before.

Beckett looked straight at me. She kept a completely serious face as she told me, "Cheryl Quackenbos."

"Quackenbos?"

"Quackenbos."

Her mask was slipping and a smile started so show through. She bit her lip to keep from laughing. I squeezed my mouth together.

"Apparently her nickname was Duckie," Kate told me.

I convulsed slightly with restrained laughter and stuck my fist in my mouth. Kate grinned in complete amusement, both at 'Duckie' Quackenbos and me.

"That's so wrong," I choked out. "Who _does_ that to a child?"

Kate started to laugh just as Ryan walked over.

He looked between us, trying to figure out the joke. He held a manila file in his hand.

Beckett stopped laughing but still smiled which made me smile.

"What's so funny?" Ryan asked, grinning cautiously, like he hoped he wasn't the butt of our joke.

Beckett shook her head. "Nothing, Ryan. Whatdaya got?"

He held out the file. "Owner of the jewels. And you'll never guess who."

Beckett took the file. "No, I won't because I told you before, I'm not guessing."

"Spoil sport," Ryan muttered, walking away.

Beckett smiled after him then looked down at the folder. She opened it and we both leaned together to read it.

There was a picture attached. The subject in the picture was female, black hair, blue eyes. Relatively pretty. Gave off a weird vibe last time I saw her.

I smiled first. Beckett followed suit but then got her someone-lied-to-me face on.

"Let's go get Debra Sanson."

Oo..oO

Beckett banged forcefully on the door to Debra Sanson's first floor apartment.

"NYPD, open up!" she yelled, taking a break from her incessant knocking.

"She's either ignoring you, running away, suddenly deaf, or not home," I said casually. I leaned against the rail of Sanson's porch while Beckett began knocking again.

"Alright, enough's enough," Beckett muttered. She stepped back from the door and looked around. "Castle, look in the windows, see if she's here."

I went to do as she said quickly. I glanced in the front room. On the table sat a steaming cup of something.

"She's here," I called. "Hot beverage."

Beckett nodded. She was feeling on top of the door frame.

"No key," she told me. Beckett reached in her jacket and pulled out her lock picking equipment.

"Uh, is that legal?" I asked, pointing at the instruments in her hands.

"Gotta warrent, so," she paused as if to think about it. "Yup."

Crouching, she fiddled around inside the lock. With a click, the door opened and she stood up straight, looking rather pleased with herself.

"Ninja," I said quietly. She smiled slightly but rolled her eyes.

"Police officer," she replied.

Beckett quickly became serious as she reached for her gun. She entered first, searching the area around her until she was confident it was clear. I followed behind her, peering over her shoulder.

"Debra Sanson?" Beckett called into the apparently empty apartment. She kept a hand on her holster while walking, alert for any hostile movements. I let her side to look in the front room. The cup of what I now confirmed to be coffee was still there, still steaming.

The front room connected to the kitchen and I, with great caution, stuck my head around to look. Nothing. But the kitchen connected to another room and I saw movement inside. Moving slowly, I grabbed a pan from the counter and walked towards the doorway. There was definitely someone in there. Taking a deep breath to steady myself I tightened my grip on the pan and lunged forwards into the room with a sort of battle cry.

"Woah!" Beckett shouted, pulling her gun out to point at me.

"Oh!" I cried, dropping the pan instantly. It clattered to the floor, narrowly missing my feet. I raised my hands high. Beckett lowered her gun and shook her head in disbelief and anger.

"Jesus, Castle, I coulda killed you!" She still hadn't put the gun away and it waved wildly as she gestured. I kept my eyes locked on it and my hands up.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were a killer," I told her quickly, adrenaline in my system making me a bit jumping.

She shook her head again and holstered her gun. She narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Just," she paused, slightly angry. "Stay behind me, okay?"

I nodded quickly.

"And put your hands down."

I acquiesced immediately. Beckett looked at me once more, as if she wanted to yell at me but then rolled her eyes and turned away. I scrambled after her.

We looked in silence for a few moments. We reached the back of the apartment and Beckett turned around. We were in a bedroom. The closet door was slightly ajar and I had a terrible feeling of déjà vu. I went to pull open the closet door. I poked my head inside reluctantly. No dead body.

"Hey Castle, look at this!"

Beckett was standing by a computer desk littered with papers. It was obvious Ms. Sanson didn't clean much. Beckett was holding one piece of paper up for me to see. I walked over to her and studied it. I familiar scrawl had written a similarly familiar clue. Also on the paper were notes like the ones Beckett had taken. And underlined on the bottom was New York City Marble Cemetery.

"Looks like we got our killer, Castle," Beckett said waving the paper.

"It would appear so."

I reached past Beckett and wiggled the mouse for the computer. The internet was open to the cemetery's website.

Beckett folded up the piece of paper and I took a shot of the screen with my phone. Who knew, could come in handy. Beckett walked into the center of the room and looked around. She seemed as if she were lost in thought.

"Where are you, Debra Sanson?" she asked the air. "Where are you?"

**A/N: So, what did you think?**

**Also, I really want to thank you guys for reading this. I know that season 3 fics are kind of passe so I appreciate it all the more. Thanks for sticking with me through this.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Reason: Chapter 14**

"You sure, Ryan?" Beckett asked the phone, tangling a hand in her hair. I couldn't hear his response but by the expression on Beckett's face, Ryan was quite sure. She let out a weary breath, making the strands of hair that had fallen in front on her face dance.

"Okay, see you later," she finished, sweeping her hair back and hanging up the phone.

"No luck?" I asked, focusing on her eyes. They often told the most about how she was feeling. Tired, was the only thing I could see but even an idiot could pick up on that. Her shoulders were slumped, her head rested on her hand and her eyelids drooped.

"She's gone," Beckett told me. "No sign of her."

"What do we do?" I asked her.

"We've already put out an APB," she said, "It'll just take time."

"This is so frustrating!" I exclaimed, throwing my body back in the chair. It never went like this in my novels!

"This isn't one of your books, Castle," she remarked. Had she read my mind? I immediately filled my mind with, 'Can you hear me, Kate?' but there was no response from her. Oh well.

Once again, Esposito rolled himself over to us.

"Got a hit on Quackenbos," he said, all business. The name Quackenbos made me laugh a little but I sobered at the look Esposito gave me.

"What took you so long, Espo?" Beckett taunted.

"I was confirming with Mrs. Albeni," he replied, slightly defensive. He soldiered through the teasing, slightly victorious look Beckett was aiming his way and continued. "Anyway, there are two vaults with Quackenbos's in them."

"There's a plural of Quackenbos?" I asked. I ran through a couple ways to plural it but all of them sounded silly.

"Hmm, I get what you're saying," Esposito told me, looking thoughtful. "Would it be Quackenbos's or Quackebees..."

"Or Quackenbi?"

"Quackenbice?"

"Guys," Beckett interjected. "Can we just focus on the case?"

"Right," Esposito announced, quite business-like. "There are Quackenbi in vaults 61 and 152. Mrs. Albeni is related to both branches of Quackenbice."

I noted his usage of plurals.

"Nice." I told him, holding out my hand for him to feed the birds. He did and Beckett shook her head slightly, as if wondering at the bounds of our childishness. For the record, it knows no bounds.

"Okay, boys, you've demonstrated your grammar. Can you demonstrate your killer catching skills now, please?" she asked with an tolerantly amused tone.

"Sure thing, boss," replied Esposito and he slid away, calling for Ryan.

"Those crazy kids," I commented, watching as Ryan stepped out of the elevator just as Esposito picked up the phone to call him.

I turned my head to see Beckett looking at me incredulously.

"What?" I asked, adopting an offended tone.

Her only response was to raise her eyebrows and turn away.

"Please," I told her. "Like you're completely innocent."

I could tell she rolled her eyes. It's one of those things you can just sense.

By the time we reached New York City Marble Cemetery, it was dark.

So very cliché. We were always at cemeteries and other creepy places where dead people lived at night. The world was determined to thrust us into a horror movie.

Ryan and Esposito were checking out vault number 61, while Beckett and I were headed in the direction of vault 152. Beckett wasn't speaking and I was focused on the area around me. I didn't want any zombies to jump out at me unexpectedly. Or killers, for that matter.

"I'm sorry about earlier," Beckett blurted suddenly. I looked over at her. She was scanning the cemetery but seemed tense. I immediately knew which 'earlier' to which she was referring but decided to give her an out.

"My nose will recover, don't worry," I told her lightly. She chuckled, but grew serious again.

"That fight was unprofessional and you didn't need to see it," she continued. "It won't happen again."

Won't happen again as in..?

"Kate," I stopped walking and she followed suite, turning to face me. "You don't need to apologise. You didn't do anything that needs an apology. Now...I know it's none of my business but..." I trailed off, suddenly feeling awkward. Her personal life was her personal life and I had no right to pry. Even though she was my soul mate, I didn't have a right to her innermost thoughts and feelings. A guy can dream, though.

"We broke up."

Her reply surprised me. It was quick and to the point but I sensed some pain in her voice. A part of me was dancing for joy while another part wanted to hurt Josh for hurting her.

"I'm sorry, Kate," I murmured.

"I'll be fine once I see you serving the Homicide department dinner in a dress," she joked, the pain gone from her voice. I accepted the change in topic and went along with it willingly. I also began the walk towards vault 152 again.

"Please," I scoffed. "Debra Sanson will have a pirate connection and _you'll_ be the one in a dress."

She let out a quick, loud laugh. "Your writer's imagination is running away again."

And then it really did run away. I pictured Kate in a zillion different, sexy dresses. Tight, low cut and with open backs. Blood reds or deep blues, blacks or the same green as her eyes. Flowy, almost transparent materials or fabrics as soft as silk. It must have shown on my face because she hit my arm.

"Castle, focus," she ordered.

"Oh I am," I answered dreamily, images still swirling in my head.

"On the light up ahead," she whispered, shutting off her flashlight.

That snapped me back to reality. I switched off my light and jumped stealthily behind a marble pillar. I use 'stealthily' generously here.

Beckett cleared her jacket away from her gun for easy access, should the need arise. She motioned with her hands for us to walk in. She started first and I followed slightly behind her. We had gone into enough dangerous situations by now for me to know to stay behind her.

The solitary light by the pillar that marked vault 152 cast eerie shadows out from the epicentre, like they were exploding from it. In the dim lighting, I could see a figure working at a shovel.

A figure that was most definitely not female.

Beckett noticed as well. She stiffened and pulled out her gun. The man continued to rummage around in the considerable hole he'd dug. Good, we still had the element of surprise. He looked unarmed but you could never tell. Just then, the man straightened and grabbed for his belt. On reflex, I ducked down and hid behind a pillar just as a bullet whizzed through the space I had recently occupied. Beckett returned fire immediately but missed as the man rolled along the ground towards cover. I saw him disappear behind another pillar. He stuck out his gun and fired two more rounds in our general direction. I heard them hit somewhere in the distance. He was a lousy shot, whoever he was.

Beckett returned fire and struck the marble tower the man was taking shelter from. The man shot back right away, this time striking somewhere closer to Beckett.

I could hear Ryan or Esposito approaching quickly and I felt relief. I turned around to face whichever one had come to our rescue. To my shock and horror, it was not either of Rysposito but someone else entirely.

Debra Sanson ran at me, shovel ready to swing at my head. I ducked just as it ripped through the air towards me. I scrambled back while trying to stay out of range of the still unknown man's gun.

"Beckett!" I cried, still dancing backwards. She turned her head and her eyes widened as she took in my plight. Simultaneously, she turned and fired at Debra Sanson who dropped to the ground, narrowly avoiding the shot aimed for her head. She scurried behind a pillar farther away as Beckett shot again.

I wanted to run over to Beckett but the hidden man still posed a problem. I couldn't reach her unless I wanted to get shot. Sadly, Sanson still posed a danger to me and Beckett couldn't hold both villains off for too long. I hid behind a tree and hoped Ryan and Esposito were hurrying over as fast as they could.

I stayed pressed against the tree when Sanson renewed her attack. She rushed at me, shovel in front of her like a lance. I called for Beckett again but knew it was hopeless. I was blocking her shot and there was nowhere I could go. I tried to twirl out of the way and mostly succeeded. The shovel caught me in the side, leaving a gash that throbbed with every movement. I suppressed a groan. I heard Beckett calling me, her voice ragged with stress. I called back, wincing as the extra exertion pulled my wound. Sanson had retreated for the moment again. Once I had moved, she was an open target and she knew it.

I looked around for a weapon. Anything would do. Beckett and mystery man still fired at each other, but Beckett was shouting at him, trying to get him to give in. I admired her display of fearlessness and power.

The cemetery was kept very clean, something I would have admired any other time. Right now, however, it was extremely inconvenient. There was nothing on the ground that could even dream of being dangerous. There was nothing on the ground period. My only tactic was to avoid Sanson. I scanned the trees but I couldn't climb them. There were no low branches. Besides, my side hurt too much for that to even be an option. I couldn't get to Beckett. I couldn't see any help coming. I was trapped. I thought I saw movement to the side of me so I hurried backwards. A shot hit somewhere close to me so I tore off in the opposite direction. Beckett called my name again and I called back.

There seemed to be noise all around me. Everywhere I turned, I saw a shovel raising to smack me or stabbing towards my gut. Every shadow held Debra Sanson. In the almost non-existent lighting, the trees looked foreboding, as if they would sooner cut me than hide me or rip me limb from limb.

I whipped my head as I heard a shovel drag across the ground. I sucked in a breath and tried very hard not to make a noise. The noise stopped, then changed directions. I let out a breath slowly.

Back towards the gunfire, I could see the figures of Ryan and Esposito running over before splitting up; Ryan joining Beckett while Esposito snuck around behind the man who had the audacity to shoot at a cop.

I knew I was saved. Surely, Sanson wouldn't be dumb enough to attack me now.

There was the possibility she might be, though, so I maintained my position. I heard more than saw the team take the man down. Esposito started reading rights while Beckett searched for me. Ryan was helping Espo with the man who was putting up a bit of a fight.

"Castle!"

Her voice was scratchy with worry as she ran, searching for signs of me or Sanson. Her gun was still drawn, for which I was immensely thankful.

"Kate!" I called back, taking a step forward to see her.

Her eyes met mine and the stress left her posture. She lowered her gun and grinned continuing towards me. I smiled back and started forwards. Just then Beckett face dropped so fast that it was almost like the joy had never been there. She raised her gun to point somewhere behind me.

I turned to look just as the back of a shovel collided with my skull.

**A/N: Bam, cliffhanger. How bout that, real action! What did you think? Any guesses as to the identity of the mystery man? **

**There'll be one more chapter after this, I think. Thanks for sticking with me. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Reason: Chapter 15**

I woke as an annoying beeping filled my ears. My eyelids felt as if sandbags were weighing them down. A raised my hands to rub them but stopped when a pain lanced through my left side. I clenched my fists and brought both arms down. I caught my breath after a moment but the beeping had increased its tempo.

"Dad?" Alexis's voice was soft and quavering. I knew that tone. She'd been crying. Why had my baby girl been crying?

With great effort I opened my eyes and trained them on her. Her eyes were red and tears had stained her cheeks.

"Honey," I began. My voice sounded hoarse and came out like a croak. I cleared my throat and tried again. "Sweetie, what's wrong?"

"Dad," she said, sounding a bit panicked. "You're in the hospital. You were hit with a shovel."

Suddenly I remembered. No wonder my side hurt. And now that I thought about it, I had a killer head ache.

"Oh..." I remarked, trying to sound casual. I must have sounded like a pained groan because Alexis jumped up and looked me over, her hands fluttering.

"What's wrong?" She asked. "Should I get the doctor?"

Before I could respond, my mother and Beckett walked in. Beckett hurried over.

"Alexis, what's wrong?" She asked, concerned, looking me over like Alexis had.

"Nothing!" I interjected. "Nothing's wrong." I looked Alexis in the eyes and reached to grab her hand. "I'm okay," I told her. She smiled at me briefly and squeezed my hand.

"_Are_ you okay?"

Beckett sounded hesitant, and when I looked at her, she bit her lip and refrained from making eye contact. I knew the problem right away.

"This wasn't your fault," I told her, staring at her until she looked at me. Then I smiled. "Didja shoot her?"

Beckett scoffed. "No way, I gave her flowers. I'll have to take 'em back though, she didn't finish you off."

I laughed with her while Alexis just looked confused. She didn't get it but with that simple, morbid exchange, Beckett and I were back to normal.

"And the treasure?" I asked.

"Returned to the museum," Beckett informed me.

"Lovely," I said. We smiled at each other for a moment.

"So how long you gunna mope around in that bed for, Castle?" Beckett inquired. "Thought you were a tough guy."

Just then, a doctor walked in.

"Mr. Castle, it's good to see your eyes open. You gave us quite a scare," the doctor joked. "I'm Dr. Robinson."

"Hey, Doctor," I greeted, waving weakly at him.

"Now, Detective," he put emphasis on the word detective and I glanced at Beckett curiously. She looked up innocently. "Beckett has kindly informed me that you are an important asset to the N.Y.P.D and under no circumstances is anything to happen to you. With this in mind, I say that you can go home tomorrow so we can keep you under observation."

I raised my eyebrow at Beckett and grinned. She blushed and looked away. Mother laughed and Alexis smiled at a memory.

"I see I have some catching up to do," I quipped, looking between them all.

"I'll let you get to that Mr. Castle," Doctor Robinson said. With a nod, he left.

"You should have seen her, Dad," Alexis informed me. "She was pulling her badge on everyone and _demanding_ information."

"She was quite insistent that the very best be put to work on you," my Mother said, smiling. There was a look in her eyes I couldn't quite place.

"She practically threatened to shut down the hospital and have it investigated if something happened," Alexis told me with a laugh.

Kate was still avoiding my eyes. She turned slightly away from me but I could see the blush on her cheeks.

"Kate, I'm touched," I teased. "I had no idea I was that important."

In spite of the teasing, I really was quite warmed by her concern. I hoped she could tell or that I would get a moment to speak with her alone.

"Didn't want the mayor to get angry," Kate said. She was still turned away and I thought I heard a slight waver in her voice.

"Alexis, let's go get some food," my Mother told my daughter. "You haven't eaten in hours."

Alexis bit her lip and looked at me worriedly.

"I'll still be here, kiddo," I reassured.

"You better be."

She left, Mother putting an arm around her shoulders.

I turned to Kate.

"Thank you," I said. "For looking out for me."

Now she turned to me and I could see her eyes were red.

"You could have died."

Her voice broke on the last word and she looked down.

"Come here," I commanded.

"Castle..."

"Kate, come here or I will go there."

She looked at me and saw my determined face. I could see her struggle internally for a moment before she came over to me. I reached out and grabbed her hand. She let me. I raised it to my mouth and kissed her knuckles lightly. A ghost of a smile appeared on her face.

"Thank you," I repeated, holding her gaze. Her other hand came up and smoothed my hair before resting lightly on my cheek. I leaned into her touch.

"Always," she said.

Oo..oO

Kate sat in the hospital chair by my bed. She had taken of her shoes and rested her legs lightly over mine. She was leaned casually back in her chair. We were talking about nothing and everything at the same time.

"So I told him, the porcupines were the ones who stole the cheese, not Bessie," I concluded.

She laughed, throwing her head back and clapping her hands together.

"And he bought that?" she asked.

"Oh yeah. I can be very...persuasive when hung over a balcony."

"I'm sure you can be," Kate remarked.

"Speaking of life-threatening situations," I began. "Who was mysterious gun guy?"

Beckett smiled mysteriously. She swung her legs off the bed and leaned in, supporting her head with her hands.

"Guess," she dared.

"Hypocrite," I muttered. Her smile widened.

I thought over the case and what we knew. I tried to find things that didn't fit; less than rock-solid alibis.

Beckett watched me think. I was aware of her study of my face but pretended I didn't notice. She was looking at me with an intensity that surprised me. I figured that it was because of the fear she had experienced just hours before.

I continued to puzzle over the case until the answer came to me. I grinned when it dawned on me.

"Aaron Gallagher," I stated. "Except that's not his real name."

Beckett nodded in admiration.

"How'd you know?" she asked.

"Not ever having broken a law is a bad reason to give ten thousand dollars back. I'm guessing the man formerly known as Aaron found out how much that treasure was really worth and went rogue. He's probably a sociopath with no real emotions."

Beckett nodded. "You got it. Psychologist says he's as crazy as they come."

"But what about Debra?" I inquired. Her motives remained a mystery to me.

Beckett looked away evasively. "She's...crazy too."

I narrowed my eyes at her. She glanced at me then quickly looked away. I raised my eyebrows. She huffed and made a defeated sound.

"Shethoughtshewasapirate," Kate told me quickly.

"You're gunna need to slow down and maybe project a bit," I said, gloating.

Beckett narrowed her eyes at me and I smiled winningly.

"She thought she was a pirate. Multiple personality disorder."

"I think that's what we call a pirate connection, Detective."

"No," she corrected. "A pirate connection is when normal Debra stole the jewels because they belonged to her _pirate _ancestors and were very valuable. She was going to claim they'd been stolen and get the insurance money."

"Some things aren't adding up," I commented. I decided to gloat later about winning. "How'd she know about the robbery?"

"Aaron's real name is Toby Sanson," Beckett informed me. I gasped. It was too perfect! Beckett smiled at my glee and continued. "Though he pretended to feel nothing for his sister around Colten, he still looked out for her. This was a great opportunity to get money and show that no one messed with his sister."

"So Gary just chose the wrong guys to steal stuff for him," I said, putting a darkly amused tone in my voice.

"That he did," Beckett agreed.

"Have you extracted everyone's confessions?"

"Yeah. Interrogating Debra Sanson/ Debradica, Pirate Queen was a little disconcerting, though," Beckett joked. "She kept changing on me. I lost track of who I was talking to."

"And yet you still got it out of her," I commented, proud of my partner.

She shrugged, giving me a warm smile.

"I was a little determined. She _did _attack my partner," Kate was trying to joke but I heard the undercurrent of worry.

"Yes. My pride is wounded," I said glumly. "Brought down by a lowly shovel."

"I'm just glad you got back up," Beckett whispered.

I grabbed her hand. I was worried I'd overstepped some boundary but Kate gave me a grateful smile. I tensed in surprise when she scooted her chair closer to the bed. I relaxed again when a playful look appeared on her face.

"Got anymore crazy stories, Castle?"

"Well, there was the time a pack of dogs chased me down an alley," I mused aloud.

"Oh really?" Beckett leaned in.

"But that's not all," I told her. She waved her hand in a 'go on' gesture. "I was wearing a toga at the time. _Only _a toga."

Oo..oO

Beckett left after a few more hours. She said she had important police business to do. Alexis came to sit with me when school ended. Much to her dismay, I had made her go.

"So what's the deal with you and Detective Beckett?" Alexis asked smoothly. I choked on a sip of water I'd been drinking.

"What?" I sputtered.

"She was here all day, right?"

I nodded.

"So...?" Alexis prodded, looking at me expectantly.

"I don't know, honey," I told her truthfully. Because I didn't, really. Things had never been concrete between us. Now... we had grown closer today, that was for sure. I had seen some of Kate's feelings for me and I was sure she'd seen some of mine. Only time would tell what would happen.

"So you two haven't..." she trailed off and made a vague hand gesture. She looked embarrassed.

"No!" I said quickly. "You're too young to know about that anyway."

Alexis rolled her eyes. "Dad, I'm 16."

I fake shuddered. "Don't remind me." I paused as an idea struck me. "Maybe I should get a gun. A real one."

"Dad, if you do that I swear I'll..."

Oo..oO

The next day, I was released from the hospital. Bed rest was suggested but not mandatory. I went home for a bit but Alexis had school and Mother did too. I got bored and lonely quick. Sadly, inspiration was not striking me (unlike the shovel) so I bummed around glumly. Then 'Who's That Lady' rang through the room.

"Beckett?" I asked.

"Hey, you back at the loft?" she asked. I could hear the busy noises of the precinct in the background.

"Yes," I answered, my tone reflecting my mood. "It's awful."

"D'you think you could come down to the 12th?" Beckett wondered. "The kids want to see you."

I laughed.

"I'll struggle down," I joked.

We said our goodbyes and hung up. I had secretly been hoping for a call all day and had dressed hours earlier. I merely had to grab my keys and go.

Oo..oO

I arrived at the 12th with two coffees. As I entered the bullpen, I noticed it was strangely silent. I looked around me, alarm bells ringing but, other than the lack of people, nothing was amiss. Light came from the blinded break room and the aroma of expensive food wafted through the air. I could also hear soft music crooning in the background.

I went to investigate. I pushed the door open with my shoulder and was greeted with an interesting sight.

Kate Beckett, N.Y.P.D Homicide Detective, was wearing a black dress that hugged her in all the right places. Her hair was knotted intricately atop her head with a few carefully selected tendrils curling down. Her back was to me as she arranged boxes of food on the white draped break room table.

Candles were lit, casting a soft glow to things and the music I had heard in the bull pen was still as soft and indistinguishable, only adding ambience.

"I should have brought flowers," I remarked, my voice a little deeper than normal. Kate jumped and turned, facing me with surprise.

"You got here fast," she said accusingly.

"I didn't speed, if that's what you're after," I said. "You'll have to find another reason to use your handcuffs."

A mischievous look gleamed in her eyes and I instantly felt fear. That look meant an onslaught of teasing and taunting was coming my way.

"I'm sure I will, Ricky," she purred. I squeaked on the inside but on the outside kept my cool. Or I thought I did. Her satisfied expression told me otherwise.

"What's all this?" I asked, gesturing towards the table and her dress.

"You won, remember?" Kate reminded me. "So...here's me, in a dress, having dinner with you."

I smiled. I liked this idea. It was special and also out of the prying eyes of the paparazzi. I told her so.

"That's what I thought, too," she told me with one of her smiles.

"Where is everyone?" I asked. It seemed odd that the bull pen was empty. It was never empty.

"Captain gave everyone the night on call. He seemed pretty excited and said something along the lines of 'about damn time'."

There was something different about Kate tonight. It was in the way she moved and spoke and smiled. It was in her eyes, her hair. It clung to her very skin. She was bolder, more open, less worried.

"I concur with the Cap'n," I quipped. I worried that it's gone too far but Kate merely smiled and moved closer so we were nearly touching. She met my eyes and something crackled in the air.

"Me too," she whispered.

We stood there, trapped in each other's gaze for what felt like hours. Eventually, Kate looked down.

"We should eat," she said quietly.

So she wasn't totally open. Not yet. It would take time, but eventually I knew it'd happen; we'd happen. I would wait forever if I needed to.

I agreed with Kate about food and we took our seats.

I folded my hands together on the table.

"Now," I said. "Time for some Kate stories."

Oo..oO

Dinner passed by far too quickly. I learned more about Kate's early days as a cop and she learned more funny Castle stories. I felt closer to her than before. She was letting me in, little at a time.

Baby steps.

I helped Kate clean up. She told me to throw out the take-out containers so I went to the bull pen to use the garbage there.

The Albeni/Carlson murder board was still up and I went over to it; a testimony to our hard work. I glanced over the headshots, the clear printing, the timeline, Gary's final letter...

Gary's final letter. The one I never finished.

_I also hope you come to your senses and-_

The possible ending taunted me. The letter called for me to read it. I looked around me hastily. Beckett was still cleaning up the break room. Her back was to me. I snatched the letter off the board and opened the evidence folder that held it. I pulled it out slowly and opened it, my eyes skipping right to the bottom.

_I also hope you come to your senses and give that Writer Boy of yours a chance. He obviously has feelings for you and, judging from the way you look at him, you do to. Now, I'm gunna be dying with regrets. A beautiful girl like you shouldn't. So live sans regrets, Detective. As a great man once said, _Carpe Diem_. Seize the day. Seize it for all you can._

_All the best, Gary Carlson_

Well, I had obviously misjudged Gary. He was a genius and a great man. Kate and I should name a child after him. I snuck the letter back in its folder and stuck it back up.

And as I joined Kate in the break room, all I could think of was her finally living the life she deserved.

Oo..oO

The reason why I stay? Isn't it obvious?

Hope.

A little hope can get you a long way. Like a man stuck in the desert hopes for water, I hope for Kate Beckett.

There's always hope, with her.

And love.

I stay because of hope and love. Sounds sappy, I know, but I've never said a truer thing.

Until tomorrow,

Richard Castle

**A/N: And there you go.**

**Thank you so much to you, readers.**

**Especially to **_**I'm Widget, **_**who reviewed each chapter and kept me going.**

**Now we can all move on to season four stories. :)**

**One last thing, though. Could you please, please, review and tell me what you thought? Even one word would do. Yay, nay, ew, stop, die... anything.**


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